THE 

ANCESTORS AND DESCENDANTS 



OF 



EZEKIEL WILLIAMS 

OF WETHERSFIELD 
1608-1907 



RtSERVE 
STOKAGt 



'i 



f^c<--'-9 Storage 



r 



1 flCtlott 



THE 

ANCESTORS AND DESCENDANTS 



OF 



EZEKIEL WILLIAMS 

OF WETHERSFIELD 
1608-1907 



COMPILED BY 



_-^/^, MARY DYER (WILLIAMS) McLEAN 



e^* O^ ^^ 



PRIVATELY PRINTED 
1907 



CS7/ 

/ 7 d J 




2^ 



ANCESTORS AND DESCENDANTS 



OF 



EZEKIEL WILLIAMS 



At her death m 1905, Mrs. Mary D. McLean left a 
small manuscript volume containing a genealogical record 
of the ancestors and descendants of her grandfather, Ezekiel 
Williams, of Wethersfield, Connecticut. For nearly twenty 
years she had been engaged in making the record complete 
and the latest entry was of a marriage that took place a few 
months before her death. She did not wish the work to be 
printed during her lifetime, but was willing, if we desired, 
that it should be put into some permanent form after her 
death, for private circulation among those who would value 
the information that it contained. Feeling certain that so 
important a contribution to the genealogy of the Williams 
family in America should not remain in manuscript, and 
wishing to perform a last service for her whom I greatly 
loved and revered, I have edited this record as a tribute to 
her memory. 

A few alterations have been made and a few facts have 
been added, but the record is here printed substantially as 
she left it. 

Charles M. Andrews. 
Bryn Mawr, 1907. 



INTRODUCTION. 



There have always been in Wethersfield, since the first 
settlement of the town or soon after, families of the Wil- 
liams' name. Frequent inquiries have been made by descend- 
ants of the present day who suppose their ancestors to have 
been allied to Robert of Roxbury, but although it cannot be 
shown that they are not of the same English origin, no rela- 
tionship between them has ever been discovered, and prob- 
ably the early settlers themselves knew of none. It is not 
known whether the two who first came to Wethersfield were 
related to each other. They did not come together, and 
Mathew, "the brick maker," seems to have been here some 
years before Thomas. Mathew had a son, Amos, born 
March, 1 645-1 646, and Thomas a son born March, 1656- 
1657. Most of the sons, for there were several other chil- 
dren of both, took up lands in Rocky Hill and became pioneer 
settlers there, where many of their descendants, of their own 
and other names, are now living. The family of Capt. Wil- 
liams of Griswoldville say that they are not descended from 
these early settlers, but that their emigrant ancestor came 
from Wales to this country at a quite recent date. 

The first descendant of Robert Williams of Roxbury 
to settle in Wethersfield was his great-grandson, Elisha, 
Rev., Rector, Col., etc., of whom so much has been preserved 
elsewhere that nothing further need be added here. His 
line of descent will easily be found in the following pages. 
Ezekiel was his nephew and came here when quite a young 
man. He probably engaged in business with his uncle, who 
was then of the firm of Williams, Trumbull & Pitkin, a 
business house interested in extensive mercantile operations 
at home and abroad and had branch establishments in several 
different places. 

The facts concerning the early American ancestors of 
Ezekiel Williams, which are recorded in the earlier pages of 
this work, are derived from several sources. The earliest 
compilation known is an ancient manuscript in the hand- 
writing of Ezekiel's father. Rev. Solomon Williams, D.D., 



8 Introduction. 

of Lebanon, the opening words of which are: "The Fol- 
lowing is the Copy of a Record kept by my honoured Father 
[wort! here undecipherable] Some of his ancestors and of 
his Children, \i\ these Words: 'An account of the deaths 
of several of My honored Parents and dear Relations.' " 
This manuscript, the contents of which have been incorpo- 
rated in the following genealogy, covers the period from 
July, 1674, to Januar)' 12, 1750, containing, in addition to 
the account kept by Rev. William Williams, Solomon's 
father and Fzekiel's grandfather, certain other facts con- 
tributctl in " A copy of my B"" Israel's writing " and " an 
Account of My own Family and Descendants, written by me, 
Solo: Williams." 

The next attempt to compile a genealogy of the American 
ancestors of Ezekel Williams was made by Mrs. Samuel 
Pitkin of East Hartford, a great-granddaughter of Rev. 
John W^illiams of Deerfield, whose captivity by the Indians 
and sojourn among them in Canada, with his final deliver- 
ance and return to his people, forms an interesting chapter 
in the history of New England. 

In 1847, I^i"- Stephen W^est \Villiams published a much 
more extended genealogy of the \Villiams family.' He ac- 
knowledged his obligations to Mrs. Pitkin's manuscript for 
much valuable information, but he collected a vast deal more 
which in his work he added to hers. Although badly ar- 
ranged and marred by many mistakes and omissions, his 
record as far as it goes is a very valuable one. A few addi- 
tional facts concerning the first American ancestor and his 
children have been published by the late Prof. George H. 
Williams of Johns Hopkins University and also by A. D. 
Weld-French, Esq., of Boston, Mass., and will be introduced 
in the following record. 

[Prof, Edward Higginson Williams, Jr., late of Lehigh 
University, and now residing in Andover, Mass., has been 
engaged for many years upon a history of the W^illiams 
family in America, which, when published, will be one of the 
most elaborate works of its kind that has been issued. A 
few years ago Mrs. McLean placed in his hands all the ma- 
terial that she had collected, so that probably a very con- 

^The Grnraloj^y and History of the Family of Williams in America, 
more particularly of the descendants of Robert Williams of Roxbury. 1847. 



Introduction. 9 

siderable part of this record has been incorporated in Prof. 
Williams' manuscript. A large part of Prof. Williams' 
work is already in the hands of the printer and it is hoped 
that the volumes will be issued at an early date.] 

The investigations of recent years have excited much 
doubt as to the genuineness of the claim of descendants of 
Robert Williams to the coat of arms to which they have long 
considered themselves entitled. It is hoped that further 
researches will determine the question. A seal is shown by 
descendants of Dr. Thomas Williams of Deerfield, known 
to have been his and supposed to have come down to him 
from his great-grandfather, Robert of Roxbury. Engraved 
in the stone is a coat of arms, said to be like that of the family 
of Williams of Denton in Lincolnshire, England, a county 
the southeastern corner of which joined Norfolk. Rev. Dr. 
Wood of Norwich, England, in the voluminous diary which 
he wrote for the wife of Rector Williams and which was 
bound by her or by Ezekiel Williams, in one place refers to 
something Mrs. Williams (then Mrs. Smith) had said of 
her first husband's coat of arms, so that he must have had 
one to which he supposed himself entitled, unless his first 
wife was mistaken as to the origin of the one in his possession. 



ROBERT WILLIAMS^ 

Born Dec. ii, 1608. Died Sept. i, 1693. 



The first American ancestor of Ezekiel, tradition and 
family record say, emigrated to this country in, or shortly 
before, the year 1638, and settled in Roxbury, Mass. 

The tradition prevailing among his descendants has been 
that his family was of Welsh origin, a tradition apparently 
for a long period unquestioned, but of late objected to by 
some upon no very satisfactory grounds. 

Great pains have been taken by antiquarians and others 
interested in the family history to learn something of Rob- 
ert's immediate ancestors, with but slight results. In 1893, 
two hundred years after the death of Robert, there was 
found in Norwich, England, an indenture of apprenticeship 
of Nicholas, son of the late Stephen Williams of Yarmouth, 
cordwainer, to Robert Williams, and another record stating 
that Robert was in 1635 warden of the gild of cordwainers 
and sealer of leather for the city of Norwich. Later was 
found in the register of the church of St. Nicholas at Great 
Yarmouth a record of the marriage of Stephen Williams and 
Margaret Cooke, Sept. 22, 1605. Also baptisms of the fol- 
lowing children: Robert, Dec. 11, 1608; Nicholas, Aug. 
II, 1 61 6; John, Feb. 2, 1618; Frances, June 10, 1621. 
[Prof. Williams has obtained a few additional facts: There 
was an elder sister, Ann; Robert was born in July, 1607; 
baptized when eighteen months old in Dec, 1608; was 
married to Elizabeth Stalham probably before 1630, and 
had four children, two sons and two daughters, born to him 
in England, all of whom accompanied him to America. In 
1905, Prof. Williams discovered that Elizabeth Stalham 
was baptized In 1595, which shows that she was nearly thir- 
teen years older than her husband.] 

Something of Robert's parentage may be assumed from 
his own well-known character after he came to this country 
and the position which he occupied among the early settlers. 



I 2 Ancestors of Ezckicl jyilliams. 

Mr. French says: " His name appears among the early mem- 
bers of the church in Roxbury. He was made a freeman 
in that phice, May 2, 163 8. He was much interested in 
education and made liberal arrangements to assist the Free 
Schools, was a subscriber to and for many years a trustee 
of the funds raised for their benefit. " Ellis, in his " History 
of Roxbury," says that " Robert Williams was one of the 
most influential men in town affairs." In his will, still ex- 
tant, he expresses his faith in his mercitul Redeemer, the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and his hope of a glorious resurrection 
at His appearing. 

Of his wife it is said that " she was of good family and 
had been delicately reared and when her husband desired 
to come to America, though a truly religious woman, she 
dreaded the undertaking and shrunk from the hardships to 
be encountered. While the subject was still under considera- 
tion, she had a dream foreshadowing that if she went to 
America she would become the mother of a long line of 
worthy ministers of the Gospel. The dream so impressed 
her that she rose up cheerfully and began to prepare to leave 
her home and kindred for the new and distant land." A 
descendant of hers of the sixth generation, Mrs. Emily Wil- 
liams of Wethersfield, is remembered to have related this 
tradition in the early part of the nineteenth century, with 
full confidence of its truth. The dream was certainly ful- 
filled, but not in the pious mother's day, for she died October 
24, 1674, leaving no son in the ranks of the Christian min- 
istry. Nine years afterward, her grandsons John and Wil- 
liam Williams, cousins, graduated from Har\'ard College, 
two of a class of three, and the day of fulfillment began. As 
far as records indicate, she was the mother of all the children 
of Robert Williams of Roxbury, who, it is said by Fanner 
in his genealogy, " is the common ancestor of the divines, 
civilians, and warriors of the name who have honored the 
country of their birth." 

The children of Robert and Elizabeth, as far as known, 
were : 

S.\ML'i;i,', born in England, 1632; died in Roxhury, Sept. 
25, 1698, ape ()6. 

Mary', born in England; married Nicholas Wood, 1644. 
A daughter', born in England; married, 1648. 



Robert JVilUams. 13 

John", probably born in England; died in Roxbury, Oct. 6, 
1658. 

Isaac', born Sept. i, 1638; died Feb. 11, 1707, aged 69. 
Stephen", born Nov. 8, 1640; lived in Roxbury. 
Thomas', died young. 

Of John little Is known, and even the existence of such a 
son was only lately discovered from the Roxbury records, 
which show that Robert administered the estate of his son 
John, who died Oct. 6, 1658. The other brothers, who lived 
to maturity were all men of character and influence, active 
in promoting the welfare of the towns in which they lived 
and of the rising colony. The stone which marks the grave 
of their mother Is still standing in the old Roxbury burying 
ground, as Is that of two of her sons and many other descend- 
ants. Although the spot Is supposed to be known where 
Robert, the husband and father, was burled, there are no 
traces of a monument to designate It. He survived his first 
wife nearly twenty years, and married, Nov. 3, 1675, Mar- 
garet Fearing, widow of John Fearing of Hingham, Mass. 
She died. It Is supposed, Dec. 22, 1690. His own death 
occurred on Sept. i, 1693. 



14 Ancestors of Ezekiel JViUiams. 

ISAAC WILLIAMS^ 

Born Sept. i, 1638. Died Feb. 11, 1709. 



Supposed to have been the third son of Robert, was born 
in Roxbury, Sept. i, 1638. As I know nothing of him ex- 
cepting what is recorded in the History of the IFiUiams 
Family, I quote what is there found. " He settled in New- 
town, Massachusetts, which then comprehended Cambridge. 
Me represented the town in the General Court of xMassa- 
chusctts five or six years, and it is said that he commanded a 
troop of horse." He is referred to by his own son. Rev. Wil- 
liam Williams, as well as by Mrs. Pitkin and others, as 
Captain Williams. 

He married first Miss Martha Parke, daughter of Dea- 
con William Parke of Roxbury and sister of the wife of his 
brother Samuel. " Deacon Parke was a man of property , 
and note in the town and represented it in the legislature for 
many years." He died May 10 or 11, 1685, at the age of \ 
seventy-nine. ! 

The children of Isaac and Martha Williams were: ' 

Isaac', born Dec. 11, 1661 ; died 1739. He had a large i 
family of whom little is recorded in the History. \ 

Martha', born Dec. 27, 1663; died Sept., 1702. aged 39, 
leaving two sons and two daughters. She married Mr. Hunt. 
William', born Feb. 2, 1665. See page 16. j 

John', born Aug. 31, 1667; settled at Stonington, and was : 
the ancestor of most, if not all, of the distinguished men of 1 
the name who have lived in Stonington, Norwich, and New 
London. 

Eleazer', born Oct. 22, 1669; settled at Stonington; his 
descendants are fewer and less known than those of his brother 
John. 

Thomas', born Oct. 23, 1673. 
Hannah', died April 27, 1739. aged 66. 
Thomas and Hannah were probably twins. 
After the death of Mrs. Martha Williams, Oct., 1674, 
Capt. Williams married Miss (or Mrs.) Judith Cooper. 
Their children were: 



Isaac Williams. 15 

PETER^ born Aug. 31, 1680. 

Sarah', born Oct. 2, 1688. 

Ephraim", born Oct. 21, 1691; settled in Stockbridge; was 
the father of Col. Ephraim Williams, the founder of Williams 
College, and the great-grandfather of Rt. Rev. John Williams, 
D.D., late bishop of the diocese of Connecticut. 



l6 Ancestors of Ezekiel irHliatus. 



WILLIAM WILLIAM SI 
Born Feb. 2, 1665. Died Aug. 29, 1741. 



Second son of Isaac of the second generation, was born 
at Newtown, Feb. 2, 1665. He graduated at Harvard Col- 
lege in 1683 and was settled over the church in Hatfield, 
Mass., in 1685, before he had reached the age of twenty-one 
years. " There he continued laboring with great zeal and 
exerting a wide influence till death put a period to both his 
ministry and his life." (Sprague's Annals of the American 
Pulpit.) The same work, and also the History of the fFil- 
liams Family, gives an extract from his funeral sermon, 
preached by the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, which describes 
him as a Christian scholar and minister more fully than any 
writing furnished by his contemporaries is known to have 
done. 

Dr. Charles Chauncey, in a letter to President Stiles, 
comparing him with Rev. Solomon Stoddard of Northamp- 
ton, writes: "Mr. Williams of Hatfield, his son-in-law, I 
believe to have been the greater man, and I am ready to 
think greater than any of his own sons, though they were all 
men of more than common understanding." The following 
inscription is on the tablet erected to his memory in Hatfield 
bur)'ing ground: 

" The tomb of the Rev. William Williams, the evangel- 
ical pastor of Hatfield, who died 29 August, 1741, in the 
76th year of his age and the 56th of his ministry. 

" My flesh shall rest in hope, for Jesus said I am the 
resurrection and the life." 

Mr. Williams married (i) Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. 
Seaborn Cotton of Hampton, New Hampshire (born Aug. 
13, 1665, a son of the celebrated Rev. John Cotton of Bos- 
ton, and received his name from the place of his birth, that 
event having taken place while his parents were on their 
voyage to this country). 

The children of IVIr. Williams and his first wife were: 



IFilliafii JViUiams. 17 

William', born April 30, 1687; died May 5, 1687. 

William*, born May 11, 1688; for 41 years pastor of the 
church in Weston, Mass. 

Martha*, born Oct. 10, 1690; married Edward Partridge 
of Hatfield; died Nov. 26, 1766. 

Elisha*, born Aug. 26, 1694; known among his relatives to 
the present time as " The Rector," from his thirteen years' presi- 
dency of Yale College, and one of the most distinguished of the 
descendants of Robert Williams. 

John*, born Mar. 7, 1697; died July 29, 1697, 

Mrs. Williams died May 7, 1698, and Mr. Williams 
married (2) Aug. 9, 1699, Christian Stoddard, third daugh- 
ter of Rev. Solomon Stoddard of Northampton. She died 
April 23, 1764, aged 87. Their children were: 

Solomon*. See page 18. 

Elizabeth*, born June 7, 1707; married Samuel Barnard 
of Salem, Mass.; died Oct., 1753. 

Israel*, born Nov. 30, 1709; settled in Hatfield; was one 
of the most distinguished men of his time in Western Massa- 
chusetts and unlike most of the name was a Tory in Revolu- 
tionary days, but not the less a patriot. 

Dorothy*, born June 20, 1713; married Rev. Jonathan 
Ashley of Deerfield. Her daughter, Charissa (not Carissa), 
married Rev. Dr. Moses C. Welch of Mansfield, Conn., an 
eminent Connecticut divine. They were the parents of Dr. 
Archibald Welch, for many years a highly esteemed and be- 
loved physician of Wethersfield. 



1 8 Ancestors of Ezekiel JnUiams. 



SOLOMON WILLIAMSS 

Born Jan. 4, 1701. Died Feb. 28, 177O. 

Fifth son of the Rev. William Williams of Hatfield^ 
was born Jan. 4, 1701, graduated at Harvard College in 
I 7 19, was ordained pastor of the church in Lebanon, Conn., 
Dec. 5, 1722. 

Spraguc says: "Dr. Williams undoubtedly held a place 
among the most prominent of the New England clergy. His 
intiuence was felt among the churches not only in Connecti- 
cut but throughout New lingland, and his services were very 
often called for on important public occasions. He had an 
extensive correspondence in Europe and America, and among 
his correspondents abroad he numbered one or more of the 
Erskines and the celebrated Maclaurin, author of the well- 
known sermon, ' Glorying in the Cross.' " Some interesting 
facts concerning his life and character are appended by his 
grandson, Rev. Timothy Stone, to the sketch given by Dr. 
Sprague in his Anuals. I'hey cannot be recorded here. 

Dr. Williams was a P^ellow of Yale College from 1749 
to 1769 and received the degree of D.D. from that insti- 
tution in 1773. He was the pastor of a patriotic, spirited, 
self-sacrificing people. How much this may have been owing 
to his own influence cannot now be known with certainty, 
Trumbull, the only colonial governor who supported the 
American cause — the wise and efficient friend and counsel- 
lor of Washington, on whom he depended in the most trying 
emergencies — had studied theolog)- with Dr. Williams after 
leaving college, and was his neighbor and parishioner as 
long as the good pastor lived. Certain it Is that thev were 
in full accord in their spirit of resistance to British oppres- 
sion, and that the \oice and pen of Solomon Williams and 
his son William did much to inspire the people, abroad as 
well as at home, with ardor and courage for the strife. Dr. 
Williams died Feb. 28, 1776, just before midnight, a few 
months before the Declaration of Independence by the 
American Congress. Although he did not live to see the 



Solomon WilUams. 19 

sight he doubtless died in firm faith that independence would 
eventually be established, and it is recorded that he left to 
the town a sum of money to be used in aiding the cause of 
the colonies. 

Some papers in my possession, relating to his last days, 
which are worn from age and much handling, may be inter- 
esting to some of his descendants, as they are to me, and are 
therefore copied here. The first is entitled : " Last Sayings 
of Rev. Solomon Williams of Lebanon," and reads as fol- 
lows : 

" Monday morning, 26th Feb., 1776. ' God has given 
me many blessings and favors and been very gracious on 
many accounts, amongst others He has given me very kind 
and dutiful and affectionate children. I thank Him and 
thank you all for all your kindness, etc. I told him that God 
had given us one of the best and tenderest fathers that ever 
children were blessed with, and we had received twenty 
thousand kindnesses, etc., which we did not deserve. He 
replied we were most welcome, what he had done God had 
enabled him and if in his power would gladly have done 
more. He thanked God He had given him hope concerning 
his children, that they were and he hoped would be useful 
in the world in various departments, but they were all duty 
and duties of them to be done; that we must look to God, 
love God, love our fellow-men, and love and live in love 
to one another. God required our whole heart and was in- 
finitely deserving of it, of ten million times more than we 
could do for or be to Him ; we must make religion our busi- 
ness, our choice, our delight at all times; anything short of 
that would be nothing.' 

" P. M. 'I don't see the beauties and inexpressible 
glories of the other world in so strong a manner as I wish, 
but God can reveal them, and if He withhold them from my 
view He can take me to Heaven without and I wait for Him. 
I am weary of my groaning; wearisome days and nights are 
appointed to me; I chose strangling and death rather than 
life, but perhaps I am too impatient, etc. ; I know God's 
everlasting covenant and promises are firm and strong, and 
the glorious mercies of it stable and everlasting; 'tis impossi- 
ble He should lie or deceive His creatures; to the terms of 
that covenant I think and am sure; I had heartilv consented a 



20 Juccstars of Ezekiel Jfillhims. i 

hundred and a thousand times and do now most fully if I 
know my own heart. My children, this world is nothing; 
care nothing for or about it, but to do what God requires 
of you in it, etc. Never rest till you make your calling and 
election sure.' 

" Sometime in the night he said ' we love our friends and 
our children greatly, and are v^ery desirous to afford them 
all help in distress, and immediately, but cannot. God loves 
His children much better, and can afford them all relief if 
they need at any time, but will not, not because He does not 
love them, but because He is infinitely wise and knows what 
is best for us, and always does it.' He said many other 
things. 

" Tuesday, 27th. He was extremely faint all day. Rev. 
Mr. Salter, making some pious remarks, among other things 
he said: ' I am under infinite obligations to God for thou- 
sands of favors and among them that He has given me so 
many and so much of opportunity to speak for God, to speak 
for Christ, and have therefore more reason to be patient that 
He won't let me now; it would be pleasant but I cannot \ 
speak and God does not want me. T have great reason to 
lament that I have lived no better and so much neglected 
that constant intercourse and communion with God that I 
ought to have kept up, so many intermissions, so many inter- 
ruptions, etc. T should have reason to fear He would leave 
me to want that sweet consolation which I now stand in so 
much need of, but blessed be His name. He gives enough to 
support me, etc. I have more and more firm assurances of 
the truth of the gospel ; 'tis not any special illumination, but 
the overbearing weight of the witness of God. I hope the 
time will soon come but I must wait, etc., etc' " ' j 

Another paper is a letter from his son Ezekiel to his 
wife, whom he had left at their home in WethersHeld. It 
is interesting as exhibiting some characteristics of both father 
ami son : 

"Lebanon, ist March, 1776. 
" Mv dearest Love: 

" T got down here iust time enough to see and feel one 
of the most tender, affecting and distressing scenes of my 

'These words were taken from hi< lips In- his son Col. William Williams. 



Solomon Williams. 21 

whole life, our most tender, dear, inexpressibly dear Father 
just leaving this troublesome, wiclced and worthless world. 
A little before 12 o'c. that night, with the utmost calmness 
and composure, he took his departure (I have no manner of 
doubt) but on the wings of angels to meet his dear Father, 
his dear (once Wethersfield) brother, and other dear de- 
parted saints and above all his dear Saviour Jesus, in the 
realms of eternal happiness and glory. Unspeakable conso- 
lation ! O how much wisdom, knowledge and goodness left 
the world that fatal night ! No more shall I hear his sweet 
\'oice, his wise counsels, his pious, his excellent instructions. 
Tell our dear excellent Aunt^ that none of us can have any 
more of his Pathetick Prayers, but that I hope and trust they 
are laid up as a precious increase. We must now pray more 
earnestly for ourselves; beg she would pray for me and for 
us all, for our dear little ones. Oh that they may be early 
formed for God, to know the God of their own excellent 
Grandfather! I wish our dear John might be properly af- 
fected with what he has lost. The subject is too tender to 
dwell on ; I can say no more ; am this moment called upon to 
go view the ground where to lay the precious remains, which 
are to be deposited next Monday, there to remain to the 
glorious resurrection day. . . . Oh may we all follow 
our dear departed father wherein he has followed Christ 
and be prepared (as I trust and doubt not he was) for a 
glorious immortality. Hope you will be careful of your own 
tender frame this changeable and uncomfortable weather 
and of the dear children, and I know you will do everything 
you can that our dear Aunt Smith's life and health may be 
as comfortable as possible. I wish I could do a thousand 
times so much as I have. . . . She, as well as we, has 
lost a dear and very valuable friend. I shall always love 
her the more because he loved and respected her so much 

i and she him. . . . Hope to return next Tuesday if 
God permit, tho' I know it will be hard leaving the distressed 
family — a kind and tender mother almost overcome, and 
dear brothers and sisters greatly distressed and yet greatly 
comforted with the assurance of his now being infinitely hap- 

i pier than it was possible for him to be here, in the enjoyment 
of his God and blessed Saviour Jesus Christ, ... I 



1 Mrs. Smith formerly wife of Rector Williams. 



■> -> 



Jficeslurs of Ezekiel inUiams. 



scarce know what I ha\c wrote, my heart is too full, and I 
fear you will not be able to read it, and I believe it is so con- 
fused as not to be worth reading. Am most tenderly and 
affectionatclv vours, 

"EZ' WILLIAMS. 

" P. S. Remember me to all the dear little ones (may 
(Joil preserve them), to Mrs. Hancock also, w^ho I heartily 
wish may be very happy and comfortable; beg her prayers 
so. 

Dr. Williams' funeral sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. 
Cogswell of Windham from the text, " Be thou faithful 
unto death and 1 will give thee a crown of life.''^ Extracts 
from the sermon are as follows: 

"Ailulation is to be avoided, to be abhorred, as well that 
which is spoken of the dead, as addressed to the living. Few 
characters will justly bear panegyric. Concerning the greater 
part of mankind, therefore, it is best to be silent, but with 
regard to this our deceased father and friend, there is more 
reason ot coming short than of exceeding due bounds. I 
am ver}' sensible of my own insufficiency to give the character 
of so great and good a man, and I shall only touch upon a 
few branches, leaving to some abler hand the agreeable task 
of a large and minute character. His genius was truly both 
great and excellent. He had a quick discernment, deep 
penetration, solitl judgment, lively imagination, a capacious 
and tenacious memory. These endowments laid the founda- 
tion for excelling in the knowledge of books and men; and 
in both of these kinds of knowledge he actually excelled in 
no common degree. By the care of his pious, venerable and 
learned ancestors he had the benefit of a very liberal educa- 
tion, which he improved to the best purposes by an inde- 
fatigable application to study, whereby he became in younger 
life a good scholar in the liberal arts and sciences. But his 
favorite stuily was Divinity; to this he early devoted him- 
self, not from necessity but from inclination. Being in early 
life savingly acquainted with the love of God and Christ and 
consequently the preciousness of immortal souls, he devoted 

'Two editions of this sermon were published, and very likely a copy 
michf he found hidden in many an attic. I have seen but one in a bound 
volume of sermons in mv father's librarv. 



Solomon JVilliams, 23 

himself to the study of Divinity and the work of ministry 
from a principle of supreme love to Christ and an ardent 
desire to build up His kingdom in the salvation of souls; 
what proficiency he made in his study, his useful, learned 
and pious labors in the pulpit and from the press are and 
long will be witnesses. 

" In the sacred desk he shone with peculiar lustre. His 
whole deportment was such as greatly recommended the min- 
isterial character — grave, devout, solemn, affectionate and 
animating. In prayer he was copious, fervent, unaffected, 
devout, scriptural; endowed with an amiable talent of adapt- 
ing himself to every varying occasion and omitting nothing 
which w^as pertinent, yet always concise, never tedious. But 
the art, the talent of preaching, was all his own. He had 
not, indeed, the strong commanding voice, nor did he make 
use of the labored flourishes of artificial oratory, but his 
method of preaching, in the opinion of the best judges, was 
far better. His sermons were composed with great judg- 
ment and accuracy, in that natural, easy method and unaf- 
fected style which would induce one to imagine while hearing 
his discourses that nothing was easier than to imitate him, 
but upon trial nothing was found harder. His voice was 
very agreeable and his delivery with such a mixture of 
gravity and pleasantness of dignity and modesty of authority 
and meekness, that few, very few could command the atten- 
tion better than he. But above all, the devotion, piety and 
philanthropy which were pictured in his countenance and in 
his flowing accents of ardent affection with most evident 
tokens of sincerity in every sentence coming warm from his 
heart, had a marvellous influence not only to gain, to com- 
mand the attention, but to elevate the affections of the devout 
heart and raise them up to Heaven, and to leave such deep 
and permanent impressions of divine truth fixed and rooted 
in the soul as were not easily effaced. 

" He was truly a primitive apostolic Christian divine and 
preacher. Christ was the centre of his affections, the sum 
of his preaching; with strict truth he could adopt the words 
of St. Paul and say to his people, ' I determine to know 
nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified,' 
and he was careful that none should spoil them through phil- 
osophy and vain deceit after the traditions of men and not 



24 .Incest or s of Ezckicl Jf'iU'iams. 

after Christ. The system of relifrion which he inculcated 
was evidently taken out of the Bible, to which he recurred 
by numerous quotations. These were taken and applied in 
such a manner as made it exceeding evident that he had not 
pre\i()usiv found or aiioptcd a system which he was impress- 
ing a few tletached passages of the sacred writings to con- 
firm, but that these were indeed the source from which his 
whole scheme was derived. He not only taught but lived 
the religion of the gospel; he was evidently an example of 
his flock in word, in conversation, in charity, in faith, in 
purity; by his singular prudence and exemplary moderation, 
condescension, affability, modesty and charity, and his faith- 
ful discharge of every part of his ministerial work, with an 
apparent evident regard to God and love to Christ and his 
people, he so recommended himself to his whole Hock that 
he was greatly belo\ed bv them and as universally esteemed 
as any of his order. And he was not only beloved and 
esteemed by his own flock and most esteemed and most be- 
loved by those who were most respectable and discerning 
among them, but greatly and universally beloved and es- 
teemed by his numerous acquaintances of all ranks. Tn this 
respect he might have been said to be ' first-born among 
many brethren,' and it is not strange that he was so, for in 
him the scholar, the gentleman and the Christian were 
happily united. He made it his endeavor to please all men 
in ail things so far as he could do it without displeasing 
Ciod. I le was a peacemaker in the true gospel sense and 
was under God an instrument of healing as many breaches 
and reconciling as many differences as perhaps any man in 
his day. This excellent pacific temper, in conjunction with 
singular wisdom and prudence, fitted him to be an able 
counsellor; to him, therefore, a great number, both of 
churches and ministers, applied under their various difficul- 
ties and perplexities for atlvice; nor did they apply in vain, 
for he was ready as well as able to give the best counsel. He 
was a warm and consistent patriot, zealous for the rights of 
humanity, an able advocate for liberty and a bold and avowed 
opposer of despotism and usurpation; at the same time he 
was a fast friend to government and good order, and not 
afraid to testify against that licentiousness which some have 
endeavored to introduce under the name of liberty'. In him, 



Solomon JVilliams. 25 

therefore, his country has lost one of her ablest, best friends; 
in this gloomy, doubtful and alarming crisis of public affairs, 
his counsels, his steadfastness, his prayers will be greatly 
wanted. But we have reason to hope that tho' he is gone, 
those fervent, effectual prayers which he has put up for his 
flock, his friends, his country have entered into the ears of 
the Lord of Sabaoth and will be heard and answered to the 
ruin of tyranny and salvation of our land. 

" In his family he was an example of conjugal tenderness 
and parental affection ; remarkable for the care and pains 
which he took to give the best education to his children in 
evei-y regard; to cultivate their minds with early erudition 
and bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the 
Lord; the happy effects of which, under the Divine benedic- 
tion, he had the satisfaction to see and rejoice abundantly 
in, and as he had reason to bless God for success in his pious, 
judicious and laborious endeavors in his own family, so he 
had likewise in numerous instances among his flock; indeed, 
we have reason to conclude that the blessing of many souls, 
ready to perish, do and will rest upon him, for his labors 
were crowned with remarkable success in various periods 
of his ministry. With what faithfulness to Christ and His 
cause, with what prudent zeal, with what love to souls, he 
conducted in that remarkable season, when we have reason 
to believe many were brought home to Christ under the 
special influences of the divine Spirit, and when through the 
subtlety of the grand adversary many were led away into 
pernicious errors, not only many of his hearers but his 
brethren and children in the ministry and other acquaintances 
will remember. It was owing, under God, to his steadiness 
and wisdom that the same errors and wildnesses which spread 
so far and rent so many churches did not prevail to any con- 
siderable degree in this place, 

" Thus beloved by and a blessing to mankind, to his flock 
and family, God upheld his feeble frame and lengthened 
out his life to a good old age, though he was frequently exer- 
cised with bodily weakness and pain. The amiable patience 
and singular fortitude of mind with which he bore them all, 
plainly and fully evidenced that even those could not abate 
either his virtue or his happiness, but were only a means of 
refining, improving and perfecting them, and I have the best 



26 Ancestors of Ezck'icl If'iU'uiins. 

int'oniiation that his faith and patience not only held out 
but were increasing to the last. 

" In his last moments he expressed his perfect satisfaction 
in the way of redemption by Christ, his firm. reliance on the 
promise and faithfulness of God, and his full assurance of 
his interest in that glorious salvation which Christ has pur- 
chaseil, which carried him abo\e not only the world and all 
its aftairs but even above all disquieting sense of his pains 
and afflictions in sure and certain hope of a glorious resur- 
rection ami a blesseil immortality. A happy conclusion this 
of a long ami godly life; showing the pertinence and import- 
ance of the Psalmist's remark. ' Mark the perfect man and 
behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace.' 

" And now we have reason to rest satisfied that he rests 
from all his labors anil has experienced the fulfillment of the 
promise that these light afflictions which are but for a 
moment ha\e wrought for him a far more exceeding and 
eternal weight of glory, ibis hope we have abundant reason 
for, from the whole tenor of the promises in God's word and 
from that made in our text in particular, for he was eminently 
faithful in all the various and important betrustments com- 
mitted to him; he was a faithful father and friend to the 
seminary of learning in this government, of which he was 
many vcars a member. He was many years a faithlul min- 
ister of Jesus Christ, a faithful friend, and, in a word, uni- 
versallv faithful, wherefore he now inherits the crown of 
righteousness and life which the Lord hath promised to those 
who arc faithful to the tleath." 

Dr. Williams marrieil, Jan. 22, 1723, about the time of 
his settlement in Lebanon, Marv, daughter of Hon. Samuel 
and Joanna (Cook) Porter of Hadley, Mass., who was 
bom \ov. 4, 17<13, and died Sept. 3O1 1787. The house in 
which he lived ami in which his children were born, a good 
sample of an old New P'ngland colonial house, remained in 
the hamls of his descendants for a hundred years or more, 
and is still stamling in good preservation in old Lebanon, 
not far from the house in which his distinguished son Wil- 
liam li\eil. Ihcir chililren were: 

SoLOMON'°, horn Nov. 5. 1723; died Nov. 12, 1723, in in- 
fancy. 

Solomon', horn July (^, 1725; died in the year of his gradua- 
tion from "^'ajp Cnlletje, Oct. 24, 1743. 



Solomon IFilUams. 27 

Eliphalet', born Feb. 25, 1727; minister of the church in 
East Hartford from March, 1748, until his death in 1803. He 
was a member of the corporation of Yale College for more than 
thirty years, and received the degree of D.D. from that institu- 
tion in 1782. 

Ezekiel'. See page 29. 

William^ born at Lebanon, March 18. 1731 [so says his 
father; his monument says April 8]; graduated at Harvard 
College in 1751; died Aug. 2, 181 1. A very interesting sketch 
of the life and character of this distinguished and valuable man 
may be found in Goodrich's Lives of the Signers of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, which is copied in the History of the 
Williams' Family, pp. 180-186. In a centennial address de- 
livered July 4, 1876, in Lebanon, the Rev. Mr. Hine says: 
" With tongue and pen and estate William Williams gave 
himself to the cause of the colonies." How he identified him- 
self with this cause may be seen from a remark which he made 
when at great labor and cost to himself he sent supplies of beef, 
cattle, and gold to Valley Forge in the gloomy winter of 1777: 
" If independence is established," he said, " I shall get my pay, 
if not the loss will be of no account to me." 

William Williams married, Feb. 14, 1771, Mary Trumbull, 
second daughter of the " war governor." She was born at 
Lebanon, July 16, 1745, and died there February, 1831. They 
had three children: Solomon, Faith, and William Trumbull, 
who was born in 1775; graduated at Yale College, 1795; mar- 
ried his cousin Sarah (born Sept. 7, 1779, died Oct. 3, 1839), 
daughter of David and Sarah (Backus) Trumbull; was a lawyer 
and antiquarian, interested in collecting Trumbull papers; died 
at Lebanon, Dec. 15, 1839. 

Mary', born Feb. 11, 1733; married Rev. Richard Salter, 
D.D., of Mansfield, brother of her sister Christian's husband. 
They had three children, not one of whom lived two months. 

Thomas', born Nov. 12, 1735; graduated at Yale College, 
1756; died at Lebanon, Feb. 10, 1819. He married Rebecca, 
daughter of Samuel and Esther (Ellsworth) Welles, of Har- 
ford, who was born Dec. 16, 1743, and died at Lebanon, March, 
1792. Their children were: a daughter, died stillborn, April 
26, 1782; Solomon and Mary, twins, born Aug. 29, 1873; 
Thomas, physician in Lebanon, whose son Solomon lived for 
many years in East Hartford and Manchester and had a large 
family of enterprising and intelligent children, many of whom 
are still living. 

Christian', born April 11, 1738; married John Salter, of 
Mansfield, Conn., had one son who married his cousin. A 
record of his family will appear hereafter. 



2 8 Ancestors of Ezek'iel JFUl'iams. 

M()SES°, born May 8, 1740; died in his tenth year. 

Samuel*, born Dec. 5, 1741 ; died Jan. 31, 1742. 

Efxici;', born May 22, 1745; married, Dec. 6, 1769, Rev. 
Timothy Stone of Goshen, a parish of Lebanon, in which place 
he was settled for about thirty years. He is said to have been 
amonj^ the ablest ministers of Connecticut of that day. He 
dicii at Goshen, May 12, 1797. For an account of Mr. Stone, 
the father, as well as of Dr. Salter, see Sprague's Annals. Mrs. 
Stone died in Cornwall, Conn., June 14, 1836, aged 91. Nearly 
all her children died in infancy, but one, Rev. Timothy, was for 
many years minister of the Congregational Church in Cornwall. 
A daughter, Mary, married Rev. Mr, Pinneo, and had several 
children. 



Ezekiel WilUmns. 29 



EZEKIEL WILLIAMS^ 

Born May 4, 1729. Died Feb. 12, 181 8. 



Fourth son of Rev. Solomon Williams, D.D., was born 
in Lebanon, May 4, 1729. Of the five sons of his father 
who lived to maturity, he was the only one who did not 
receive a college education. He was of a very ardent, active 
temperament, and probably preferred business to study. I 
know nothing of his early life. Upon the Wethersfield Land 
Records is a copy of a deed, dated Dec. 12, 1752, by which 
all rights in certain lands are conveyed to Elisha Williams, 
Jr., and Ezekiel Williams, both of Wethersfield. Nothing 
being known of any other Ezekiel Williams, we must con- 
clude that the son of Solomon settled in Wethersfield at an 
early age and was probably soon engaged in active business. 
He may have been connected with the firm of Williams, 
Trumbull & Pitkin, which had a branch establishment In 
Wethersfield, although he could not have been the senior 
member, the firm having existed under the same name as 
early as 1746, when he was but seventeen years of age. In 
1759, as we learn from the Town Records, he bought the 
land upon which soon after he built the large house now 
standing at the head of Broad street, in which his children 
were born and reared. 

On Nov. 6, 1760, he married his second cousin, Prudence 
Stoddard, born March 28, 1734, daughter of Col. John 
Stoddard of Northampton, Mass. Of him Gov. Hutchinson 
of Massachusetts wrote : " Few men have been more gener- 
ally esteemed. . . . No man in Massachusetts Bay 
possessed the same weight of character during the last twenty 
years of his life, and it may be said, almost literally, that 
' after him men spake not again.' " Dr. Dwight, a iformer 
president of Yale College, in his Travels in New England, 
quotes still further from Hutchinson and gives a fuller 
tribute to the character and services of Col. Stoddard, with 
some interesting facts illustrative of both.^ His daughter 

* See Stoddard Genealogy, pp. 98, 203-222. 



3<J Ezekic'l Williams. 

was educated at some of the best schools of the colony. The 
History of the ffillidins Family says, "She was a lady of 
jj^reat strenj^th of character with uncommon dignity of de- 
portment." In a manuscript record, prepared under the 
()\crsi^dit ot her son, Hon. Thomas S. Williams, it is writ- 
ten. " 1 Icr character was one of remarkable excellence, in- 
telligent and lovely." 

About the year 1767, Ezekiel Williams was appointed 
sheriff for the county of Hartford, a much more honorable 
anil tlesirablc office at that time than it is considered at 
present. I lencetorth he was universally known as " The 
ShcriH," anti the few who at this day remember him prefix 
to his name the title by which, as long as he lived, he was 
distinj^uished. 

In the History of the fniliavis Family, his son, Hon. 
Th(^mas S. Williams, gives a brief sketch of his character 
anil official serxices, as follows: ''During the time that 
' tried men's souls,' he was warm and active in the cause of 
his country. Silas Deane sneeringly calls his ardor 'boiling 
zeal.' During most of the time of the Revolutionary War, 
he was Commissary of Prisoners for the State of Connecti- 
cut, and his xoluminous correspondence with the venerable 
Boudinot, Commissary General, shows that the duties were 
arduous. In addition to this he held the office of sheriff of 
the county of Hartford, which he resigned In the year 1789, 
after twenty-two years of service." 

Of his official appointments Judge S. W. Adams wrote 
me as follo\ys: "He was appointed by the General As- 
sembly captain of the first company of the Sixth Regiment 
of Connecticut militia in May, 1761. The same authority 
also appointed him sheriff of Hartford County In 1767. He 
was (with Mr. Pitkin, Thos. Sevmour, and Oliver Ells- 
worth), on the ' Committee of the' Pav Table ' from April, 
I77^^ to the end of the Revolutionarv War. This body 
audited the war accounts of the Colony and State. In May, 
1775. 'ic with ten others were constituted a commission to 
take charge of prisoners of war in Connecticut. In Mav, 
1777, upon the reijucst of Congress, the General Assembly 
apnf)intcd hii7i Commissary of Prisoners. He was thereafter 
called Dejnity Commissary General and was usually entitled 
Colonel. I suppose the office carried with it the assimilated 



Ezekiel JVilliams. 31 

rank of colonel. So you see that his descendants would be 
entitled to be enrolled among the Sons of the Revolution 
beyond question." 

Chief Justice Williams continues: " He was many years, 
from 1774 until his death in 18 18, deacon of the Church of 
Christ in Wethersfield. His official duties were discharged 
with great promptitude and fidelity. He was uncompromising 
in his principles, active in the cause of Christ, and devoted 
to the welfare of his fellowmen. His hand was ever open 
to the calls of the poor and destitute, and his heart devised 
liberal things for the benevolent operations of the day." 

Hinman's History of the Connecticut Actors in the 
American Revolution shows him to have been quite promi- 
nent among them, unwearied in his labors and freely sacri- 
ficing his property to aid the colonies in their struggle for 
independence." " The citizens of that State," says one, 
" are under lasting obligations to him for his services." 

He was a tender loving husband, and an affectionate, 
anxious father. His solicitude for his children, especially 
for his sons, led him to secure for them the best teachers at 
home, and to place them under eminent instructors abroad. 
He had for many years a governess in his family, Mrs. Han- 
cock, an English lady of great piety, intelligence and worth, 
to whom his younger children, particularly his son Thomas, 
felt in after life greatly indebted. One of his daughters 
was for fourteen years an invalid, a great sufferer from dis- 
ease that utterly baffled the skill of the best physicians of the 
town and neighboring city. His considerate thoughtfulness 
and tender care of her were beautiful. The whole family 
was restrained for her sake, not unwillingly, for she was 
lovely and beloved by all who knew her. Whatever her 
father saw or heard of that was likely to contribute to her 
comfort he procured for her, and I have been told that be- 
fore the Fourth of July or a " Training Day," such as was 
frequent in those times, he would go to a distant part of the 
town and engage rooms to which she was tenderly carried, 
thus escaping the noise of guns and cannons and other un- 
pleasant sounds that would cause pain to her very sensitive 
nerves. The wheeled chair, made according to her father's 
directions expressly for her use, was after her death, when 
such appliances were more uncommon and less easily ob- 



32 Ezekiel lf'"illicuns. 

tainctl than now, loaned to many a sufferer, and more than 
once sent thirty miles or further than that on its errand of 
mercy. lor many years it reposed in his granddaughter's 
attic, hroken beyond repair, the necessity for its use super- 
seded by greatly improved contrivances adapted to the same 
purpose. 

Sheriff Williams' hospitality was unbounded. His chil- 
dren sometimes thought it carried to too great excess, when 
he put himself and them to so much trouble in showing kind- 
ness in his own house, to the poor, the distressed, and the 
stranger. His house, large as it was, did not sutl^ce for his 
generous hospitality, and a small house a few rods away was 
used when the big mansion overflowed its limits. The boys 
were usually sent there, and free from parental control and 
restraint, they played many a prank which made the old 
walls ring and which have been handed down to their chil- 
dren and grandchildren. In the southeast parlor was what 
I think must have been the ancestor of the modern folding 
bctl. In outward appearance something like a large ward- 
robe with panelled doors, but containing a bed which could 
be let down at night, when a late traveler might appear, 
and the bedrooms were all full. Many incidents illustrative 
of this open-handed liberality, were told by his children with 
evident satisfaction and pride in after years. Others have 
confirmed the impression which his children gave, and have 
added to it a vision of a nervous, excitable person, in per- 
petual motion, with an extreme sensitiveness to slight annoy- 
ances and any phvsical discomfort, which he could not 
conceal, yet with a never failing impulse to help any one to 
v.hom he could render a service, and grudging no trouble or 
sacrifice of pleasure or pride to accomplish this end. 

Many anecdotes were current years ago displaying his 
peculiarities of temperament and manner in rather an amus- 
ing light, but these peculiarities were merely superficial and 
did not at all detract from the respect and love which were 
universally manifested toward him. He sat in a ver\^ con- 
spicuous seat in the " meeting-house," as the place of worship 
was then called, in the deacon's seat in front of and beneath 
the pulpit and facing the congregation. Sometimes the flies 
wouKl bother him and he would wave his red bandana to 
drive them awav. or he felt a breath of air and would throw 



Ezekiel JFilliams. 33 

the same red bandana over the exposed part, head or neck, 
to the amusement of the sitters In the galleries and pews. 
In winter there was no fire in the church, and he carried a 
foot stove which he moved from place to place ; when his 
feet were coldest he put it under them and when his hands 
were chilled he took it into his lap and laid them upon it. 
His successor in office, Stephen Chester, sat opposite him in 
the singer's gallery, and was probably more interested in 
watching him than in joining in the service or listening to 
the sermon. Mr. Chester was a near relation of Mr. Wil- 
liams' wife and an intimate acquaintance of the sheriff, and 
being something of a wag thought he would get a little fun 
out of his friend's peculiarities. So one day he told the 
constable that he had a writ for him to serve. When the 
constable learned that it was a summons to Sheriff Williams 
to appear and answer to certain charges against him he ob- 
jected to perfonning the duty, but the new sheriff insisted, 
and the inferior officer set out to do as he was bidden. When 
Mr. Williams learned on what errand he had come to him 
he broke out in strong expressions of astonishment, " A writ 
to be served upon me! and what for?" "For disturbing 
Sheriff Chester's devotions in meeting," was the constable's 
reply. To which the ex-sheriff made answer, " Sheriff Ches- 
ter! Sheriff Chester never had any devotions to disturb," 
which it is to be feared was at that time true, for though 
he led the singing of the church with unusual skill, and often 
the tears would flow freely when the sweet voices of his choir 
were in harmony, it was not seldom that only words profane 
were strong enough to express his displeasure when a false 
note was struck or the voices of his singers were discordant. 
It is presumed that the writ was returned to the acting sheriff 
and no further attempt was made to serve it. 

Sheriff Williams' son Thomas says of him, " His hand 
was ever open to the calls of the poor and destitute, and his 
heart devised liberal things for the benevolent operations of 
the day." His son John used to tell his children that their 
grandfather had a drawer in his desk in which there was 
always money devoted to charitable purposes. From the 
time it was placed there it was " the Lord's," and sometimes 
when his children asked for a small sum to expend for their 
own pleasure he would say, " Do you want me to rob the 



34 Ezekiel JfilUams. 

Lord? I shall have to do it if 1 give you anything now"; 
thus ehcctually silencing the most of them, but not always 
his son John. 

Sometimes his kindness was imposed upon and children 
ami friends would advise him to be more discriminating in 
the bestowal of his charities, but in vain. It was his unvary- 
ing practice to give not less than " eighteen pence " to every 
stranger who asked of him alms. " 1 hen," said he, " I shall 
not deny entirely anyone really in need of help." A good 
deacon, who was associated with him in office, told me that 
as they walked together in the street one day they were ac- 
costed by a well-known lazy, intemperate townsman, who 
began a pitiful story of his misfortunes, holding out his hand 
at the same time for something that would relieve them. 
I he sheriff at once slipped a piece of silver into his palm 
and passed on with his friend. When they were out of the 
beggar's hearing the younger deacon asked the elder how he 
could give to such a worthless fellow. " Ain't I a worthless 
fellow ?" was the reply, " and the Lord is always giving to 
me. 

Sometimes his kindness was appreciated and the recipient 
would seek an opportunity to express his gratitude. One 
day he was passing alone in his chaise over an unfrequented 
and ver\' muddy road. At one spot his wheels stuck fast 
and his horse could not draw him on. Greatlv excited, as he 
was wont to be in an emergency requiring immediate action, 
he cried out, " Lord deliver me from the horrible pit and 
the mir>' clay ! " Some negroes at work in an adjoining field 
heard him and came to his rescue. Thev cheerfully per- 
formed the not very easy or agreeable task and landed him 
upon firm ground, expressing their pleasure at being able to 
serve one who had always been so kind and polite to them. 

His cKiest daughter, upon whom much family care de- 
volved, told me that he would often accost strangers who 
were riding or driving by, and if it were near a meal time 
would insist upon their coming into his house and taking a 
seat with himself and his family at the table, or if that were 
already cleared, would have it spread anew for them. The 
temperament of his wife was just the reverse of his own, 
and such interference with her domestic arrangements, it is 
belicvcil. never disturbed her equanimitv or disposed her to 
check his kindlv impulse. 



1 



Ezekiel Williams. 2)S 

This good man, who perhaps scarcely knew what repose 
was while in this earthly life, entered upon " the rest that 
remaineth for the people of God" on Feb. 12, 1818, in the 
eighty-ninth year of his age. It was a long life, but he used 
to say, as he drew near the close of it, " There's no such thing 
as old people; I thought there was once, but I'm as old as 
anybody and I'm sure I am not old." 

His wife survived him about four and a half years, her 
death occurring on July i, 1822. They were laid side by 
side in a tomb which he had prepared in the old burying 
ground of Wethersfield. The effects of time and decay made 
it necessary between thirty and forty years after to fill up 
the vault and take down the structure over it. A suitable 
monument was erected upon the centre of the lot, which 
bears the name of Ezekiel Williams and his wife, as also 
the names of their descendants by blood and marriage who 
lie around them. 

Above the names of the founders of the family and their 
children who died unmarried, upon the side facing the en- 
trance to the lot, are the comforting and inspiring words of 
St. Paul, " Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring 
with him." 



36 Descendants of Ezekiel JVilliams. 



DESCENDANTS OF 
EZEKIEL WILLIAMS AND PRUDENCE HIS WIFE. 



My list of the descendants of Ezekiel and Prudence 
Stoddard Williams is complete [for four generations. For 
the last generation, eleventh from Robert, I have been able 
to obtain but a very few names]. 

r shall take each of the children separately and trace his 
or her descendants down to the present time. I am aware 
that a better arrangement might be adopted, but this one 
will be the easiest for me and 1 think that the few who ^yill 
care to consult this record will find no difficulty in obtaining 
any facts they may desire which are contained in it. 

The children of Ezekiel Williams numbered eleven, all 
of whom li\ed to maturity, and most of them to an advanced 
age, as the following list will show: 

1. Emily," born June 29, 1761 ; baptized July 12; died 
Sept. 19, 1850, aged 89. 

2. John', born Sept. 11, 1762; baptized Sept. 12; died 
Dec. 19, 1840, aged 78. 

3. Harrikt", born Tune 26, 1764; died June 5, 1 850, aged 

86. 

4. Ezekiel", born Dec. 29, 1765; baptized Jan. 5, 1766; 
died Oct. 18, 1843, aged 78. 

5. Prudence", born Oct. 2, 1767; baptized Oct. 4; died 
March 24, 1853, aged 86. 

6. Mary", born Aug. 14, 1769; baptized Aug. 20; died 
Nov. 25, 1850, aged 81. 

7. Esther", born April 14, 1771; died June 24, 1820, 
unmarried, aged 49. 

8. Solomon Stoddard', born Oct. 10, 1773; died Feb. 10, 
1840, unmarried; aged 67. 

9. Christian", born Sept. 22, 1775; died Jan. 30, 1803, 
unmarried ; aged 28. 

10. Thomas Scott', horn June 26, 1777; died Dec. 22, 
1 86 1, aged 84. 

11. Samlel Porter", born Feb. 22, 1779; died Dec. 23, 
1826, aged 47. 



Emily JVilUams. 37 

EMILYS 

Born June 29, 1761. Died Sept. 19, 1850. 



Eldest child of Ezekiel and Prudence (Stoddard) Wil- 
liams, married her second cousin, Samuel William Williams, 
Nov. 23, 1785. He was a grandson of Rector Williams, a 
graduate of Yale College, 1772, an officer in the Revolution- 
ary army and aftenvard held offices of trust in Wethersfield, 
his native town, in which he spent most of his life. He died 
Sept. 14, 18 12, aged 62. Mrs. Williams, his wife, was an 
uncommonly active, efficient and benevolent woman. By 
word and deed she expressed her warm interest in all around 
her; as her brother-in-law said of her, "To do good and 
communicate, she forgot not." They had Issue: 

Harriet', born Nov. 28, 1786; died Aug. 6, 1881. 
Emily^ born July 25, 1788; died, unmarried, May 11, 1848. 
Elizabeth', born July 2, 1790; died May 11, 1848. 
Mary', born April 15, 1792; died Sept. 15, 1793. 
Mary', born Nov. 25, 1793; died July 12, 1886. 
Frances', born Nov. 10, 1795; died Dec. 21, 18 15. 
William', born Oct. 2, 1797; died June 17, i860. 
Ezekiel', born July 5, 1799; died Feb. 10, 1873. 
Abigail', born May 10, 1801 ; died, unmarried, Feb. 28, 
1832. 

Samuel', born Feb. 26, 1804; died Feb. 8, 1882. 

John Stoddard', born June 3, 1806; died Sept. 11, 1848. 

Harriet Williams'', the eldest child of Emily and Sam- 
uel W. Williams, married Caleb Goodwin, a merchant of 
Hartford, Sept. 3, 18 11. He died in that city. May 24, 
1830, aged 51. Their children were: 

Elizabeth Williams^ born Sept. 3, 18 13; died Sept. 
23, 1898, at the Hartford Hospital after eleven days' illness, 
the effect of a fall in her room, by which a limb was broken. 

William WILLIAMS^ born in Hartford, May 13, 18 17; 
settled in Galena, 111., in mercantile business in 1845; '" 
1857 moved to Chicago; resided for many years with his 
daughter, Mrs. Watson; married Nov. 14, 1850, Kate F. 



38 Descciiiliuils of Ezckiel fVilUams. 

Amoss, daughter of William Amoss of Baltimore, Md., who 
died June 2S, 1866, aged 35. Their children were: 

Francis Parsons', born Dec. 26, 185 1; died, unmarried, 
at San Antonio, Texas, March 12, 1894. 

K.MMA Trhco'. horn Aufi. 27. 1852; died July 10, 1887. 
Ai.icii', horn May 27, 185O; married June 27, 1882, Rev. 
William J. Watson, now pastor of the Baptist Church, Villisca, 
Iowa. They have children: 

r.MMA Marih'", horn Dec. 10, 1884. 
Josti'ii", born May 12, 1887, 
Alice", born Dec. 31, 1890. 
Elizarhth Aline'", born April 25, 1895. 
William Ui;nrv°. fourth child of William W. and Kate 
(Amoss) Goodwin, born March 4, 1859; married July 26, 
1898, Grace F. Watson of Pittsburg, Pa.; bookseller. James- 
town, N. \.; now resident at Auburn, N. Y. Mrs. W. H. 
Goodwin died June 17, 1903. They had one child: 

Harrilt Francenia", born April i, 18O3; died, un- 
married, at Monmouth, 111., March 13, 1889. 

IIF'NRY Martyx*, third child of Harriet Williams and 
Cnlch Goodwin, horn at Hartford, June 8, 1820; studied 
theology at New York and New Haven, 1 843-1 846; was 
onlained, 1851; married, Nov. 6, 1854, Martha French of 
Bath. N. H., who died March 17, 1876, aged 51. Rev. Mr. 
Gooilwin, D.I)., was pastor of the P^rst Congregational 
Church in Rockland, 111., from 1850 to 1872; resided in 
I'.unnic with his family, 1872 to 1874; on his return was 
appointed professor in Olivet College, Olivet, Mich., which 
office he resigned in 1887. He wrote a theological work en- 
titlcii Christ (itul Iliimamty, and many valuable articles pub- 
lished in the Ncn: En\rla)i(icr and other religious magazines. 
He died of jincumonia, March i, 1893, ^t the home of his 
ilaughtcr, Mrs. Wild, in Williamstown, Mass. 

I he chiKlren of Henry M. Goodwin and Martha French 



arc 



Horace Bush n ell*, born Aug. 21. 1856; married (Mrs.) 
Lida Ix"nno\. tlauRhter of Richard Collins, now of Kansas City, 
Mo.. Jidy, 1883: no children. 

Martha Chapin', born July 12, 1859; married July 9, 
1903. Gcorpc DcWitt Castor of Kansas City. Mo., a graduate 
of Drury College and instructor on missions, etc., Yale College, 



Goodzviu. 39 

1904-1907; now Professor of New Testament Exegesis, Berke- 
ley' Divinity School, Berkeley, Calif.; no children. 

Henry French', born Ajiril 25, 1863; graduated Olivet 
College, 1884; Yale Divinity School, 1890; for some years 
pastor of church in or near Chicago ; studied medicine and is 
now a practicing ph3^sician in Chicago; unmarried. 

Ada Lilley. born Jan. 15, 1865; married July 14, 1892, 
Henry Daniel Wild, Professor of Latin Language and Litera- 
ture, Williams College, Williamstown, Mass. Their children 
are: 

Henry Douglas", born Nov., 1893, in Leipzig. 
Arthur Goodwin'", born May 4, 1897, in Williams- 
town. 

Caleb\ fourth child of Harriet Williams and Caleb 
Goodwin, was born in Hartford, Sept. 13, 1822; settled in 
Chicago: married there, Sept. 13, 1847, Elizabeth Brooks, 
daughter of Samuel Brooks of London, born in Islington, 
England, Jan. 31, 1823. They had children: 

Henry Bushnell'', paper manufacturer's agent, Chicago, 
born in Galena, III, July 19, 1848; married Oct. 24, 1883, in 
Boston, Mass., Mary Minerva Welles, daughter of George M. 
and Mary (Wilcox) Welles of Chicago. No children. 

Harriet Williams', born in Chicago, Oct. 7, 1850; died 
Sept. 7, 1853. 

Frederick Brooks', merchant in Chicago, born in Chicago, 
Aug. 23, 1852; married there, Sept. 16, 1880. Orra Louvis 
Pierce, daughter of Henry and Susan (Leach) Pierce. Their 
children are: 

Mary Pierce'", born Feb. 9, 1882; married, Chicago, 
Dec. 31, 1904, Ernest Frank Gould; one child: 
Orra Harriet", born April 28, 1906. 
Susan Leach", born Jan. i, 1886; married, Dec. 31, 
1904, on same day as her sister, Frederick Chester Pullen. 
Samuel Brooks', born, Chicago, April 24, 1855; died Sept. 
10, 1855. 

Mary Shepperd', born, Chicago, April 24, 1855 (Samuel's 
twin sister) ; married, Chicago, May 23, 1878, Henry Theodore 
Pierce, son of Henrj' and Susan (Leach) Pierce, who died of 
enlargement of the heart, Sept. 17, 1901, after many years as 
a merchant in Kansas Cit}^ Their children are: 

Elizabeth Brooks", born, Chicago, April 19, 1879. 
Henry Leach", born, Chicago, April 27, 1881. 
Ruth Marian", born, Kansas City, Dec. 5, 1882. 



40 DrsiCfiJiints of Ezck'tcl Jl'iUiams. 

M.\R^' Louisa'", born, Kansas City, Jan. 23, 1885. 
An infant'", born Aug., 1888; died September of the 
same year. 

Otis Soutjiwortii", born, Kansas City. Nov. i, 1890. 
Elizabkth Marsden", born, Chicago, IVIay 21, 1857; 
married Mar. 25, 1890, Sereno E. Norton, manufacturer, son 
of clergyman of Evanston, III. They have children: 
ShRiiNo Goouwin", born July 5, 1891. 
KmviN Norton'", born Feb. 6, 1901. 
Howard Williams', born, Chicago, Sept. i, 1859; married, 
Independence, Kan., Jan. 3, 1888, Mar>' Emmaline Collins. 
No children. 

Sarah Lenore." antl Leonard Remmer", twins, born, 
Chicago, Oct. 13, 1 861. 

Isabella Loi isa\ born, Chicago, Sept. 22, 1863; married 
June 28, 1888, William C. Payne, son of Alfred Payne, Super- 
intendent of Schools, Chicago. Their children are: 
Leonard Goodwin"', born June 11, 1889. 
Arthir P^^•^•E'^ born Sept. 20, 1890. 
Hl.xr^", born May 14, 1892. 

Lkwis', fifth son of Harriet Williams and Caleb Good- 
win, born, Hartford, .\pril 4, 1826; went to California when 
quite youn^, arriving at San Francisco on the last day of 
Fchruan', 1849; spent his whole life, Avith the exception of 
a few short visits in the East, upon the Pacific coast; died, 
San IVancisco, Sept. 19, 1889; unmarried. 

Wii.Li.AM Williams", the first son and seventh child of 
Emily and Samuel W. Williams, p;raduated at Yale College, 
18 16; oniaincd at Salem, Mass., in 1821. He was twentv- 
onc years pastor of two Congregational churches in that city; 
was afterward settled in Exeter, N. H., and still later, on 
account of the failure of his health, left the ministry' and 
became a phvsician. He married his first cousin, Mary 
Parsons, daughter of Rev. Dr. David Parsons of Amherst, 
Mass., Sept. 18, I 82 I. They had issue: 

Henry Porter', born June 20, 1823; died Aug. 22. 1824. 
Mary Parsons", born July 30. 1826; died Nov. 18. 1829. 
Frances Chappel', born Feb. 12, 1828; died Nov. 14. 1829. 
Hxrriet Pierson", born Dec. 17, 1830: died Mar. 3. 1841. 
Mary Elizabeth", born Jan. 8. 18 n; died in Hartford, 
Feb. 15, 1898. 

William Oakes', born Aug. 5, 1835; soon after leaving 



William and Samuel IFilliams. 41 

school In Salem, he went as a sailor on a long voyage in a 
clipper ship with a friend of the family in command ; for two 
years or more he was engaged in mercantile pursuits in Cleve- 
land and Providence; after which he settled in Boston as a 
real-estate dealer, where he still lives unmarried. 

Charles Henry", born May 27, 1837; identified with the 
Congregationalists, and residing in Massachusetts or Connecti- 
cut has rendered occasional or continuous service to churches of 
six denominations in fourteen states from Maine to California; 
His settled pastorates have been over the following churches: 
Congregational Church, Wellesley Hills , Mass. ; Howard 
Avenue Congregational Church, New Haven, Conn. ; First 
Congregational Church, Meriden, Conn. ; First Church of 
Christ, Hartford, Conn. ; now residing in New London, Conn. 

Samuel*, born May 20, 1839; died July 23, 1841. 

EzEKiEL WILLIAMS^ the second son and eighth child of 
Emily and Samuel W. Williams, married Adeline M. Ar- 
thur Butler, daughter of Levi Butler of Wethersfield, Dec. 
22, 1825; baptized May 5, 1799; died at the birth of her 
second child, Feb. 19, 1840, aged 41. Their children were: 

Sarah Butler^ born Oct. 13, 1826; married, Jan. 29, 
1848, Charles Seymour of Hartford, who died Sept. 24, 1884; 
died in Hartford, Oct. 25, 1897. They had issue: 

Martha Adeline", born Aug. 6, 1850; died Aug. 9, 
1850. 

Charles Henry", born July 5, 1851; died Mar. 24, 
1866. 

Eugene Everett", born Nov. 6, 1852; married (0 
Elizabeth Lyons of New York City, Oct. 9, 1877, who 
died June 3, 1885, leaving an infant son who survived her 
only eighteen days; (2) Ella Jane Kipp, of New York 
City, April 28, 1886, who died Feb. 8, 1899. Their child 
is: 

Helen'", born. New York, Dec. 5, 1893. 
A SON,* born Feb. 19, 1840; died Feb. 21, 1840. 

Samuel Williams^ the third son and tenth child of 
Emily and Samuel W. Williams, married (i) Mary Eliza- 
beth Adams, youngest daughter of Nathaniel Adams of 
Portsmouth, N. H., Oct. 17, 1831, who died Dec. 27, 1843, 
aged 35. Mr. Williams was for many years engaged in 
active business, and afterward studied and practiced law in 



42 Dcsct'tidduts cf Kzckicl irUliams. 

New York citv. lie Jicci 1 ch. 8, 1882, and was buried in 
Wcthcrsticld. They hail issue: 

LoLiSA Ai)SHhAu\ born Feb. 12, 1834; married, June 19, 
1862, 0<)rj:c l^ompson of Portsmouth, Their children are: 
Alice Williams", born April 13, 1863. 
Louisa Adams", born Dec. 24, 1864; died yovmtz. 
liiiNRV Richards", born July 28, 1867; died young. 
Stanley Parker", born Mar. 12, 1869, 
Anna Adams", born Mar. 10, 1870. 
Fmii.y de Normandie", born Jan. 20, 1873; died 
youn^. 

.Marion", born Oct. 27, 1877. 
William Adams', second child and first son of Samuel and 
•Mary K. Williams, born Mar. 12, 1836; fell severely woimded 
in the battle of C-iaines Mills in the seven days' fight before 
Richmond, and died eleven davs after, July 8, 1862. 
Alice', born .May 28, 1838. 

(1race\ born July 28, 1 840; married, June 28, 1868, Wil- 
liam H. Treaduell of Portsmouth; died 1892. Two children, 
one not living. 

Daniel A.", born April 17, 1842; married, Nov. 30, 1867, 
Katharine L. Piatt of London, England. Their children are: 
Albert E,", born Nov. 30, 1870. 
Frederick A.', born July 2, 1875. 
Charles H.', born Sept. 0, 1877. 
Mary Elizabeth", born Dec, 21, 1843; died Aug. 4, 1849, 

Samuel Williams married (2) Harriette Amelia Bron- 
son. daughter of Rev. Hector Bronson and Lucy Gallop. 
Ihcy had issue : 

Emily Ida", born Sept. 19, 1846. 
Frldi.rick Elisha". born Nov. 19. 1848. 
Ha/el Stoddard", born Mar. s. 1850; married Mr. De 
Apucro, 

Franck", born Nov. 2, 1852, 

John SronivxKiv, the fourth son and eleventh child of 
F.mily ami Samuel W. Williams, graduated at Yale College 
in 1S27; stuilied law with Rufus Choate at Salem, Mass.; 
practiced his profession in that city, holding many important 
town and state ofliccs, until his death, Sept. 11, 1848. A 
Salcm journal said of him : " As an advocate Mr. Williams 
was eloquent and successful. He was a generous patron of 



John Stoddard WilUams. 43 

all benevolent undertakings and a most devoted and active 
Christian, Those who worshipped with him will bear testi- 
mony to his earnestness and zeal in the performance of his 
Christian duties and his ready eloquence in his effective ad- 
dresses and prayers in the religious meetings of his society. 
He was truly a whole-souled man, constantly moved by a 
most unlimited and impulsive benevolence,'' He married 
Mehitable Oakes of Danvers, Mass,, who died at Salem, 
Aug. 2, 1895, aged 87. Their children were: 

Emily Oakes", born Ma^^ 25, 1838; died Aug. 7, 1892, 
RuFus Choate", born Dec. 1840; died in Wethersfield, 
Sept., 1842. 

John Stoddard^ born Juh^ 20, 1844; married, Sept. 9, 
1869, Maria T. Brown, daughter of Ephraim Brown of Salem. 
Their children are: 

John Sjoddard", born Aug. 25, 1870; married, Salem, 
June 19, 1895, Gertrude Evelyn Prime. Their children 
are: 

Elizabeth", born Dec. 29, 1896. 
John Stoddard", born July 13, 1904. 
Helen Williams", born Nov. 4, 1905. 
Alice Trumbull", born Oct. 19, 1892; married, Sept. 15, 
1900, Leonard Harrington Goodhue, business man of Boston; 
resides in Maiden ; one child : 

Alice Goodhue", born Jan. 6, 1905. 
Helen Oakes", born Dec. 6, 1875; died Jan. 31, 1877. 
Edith Brown", born Dec. 23, 1878; died Mar. 30, 1880. 
Ralph Brown", born Aug. 24, 1881. 
Chester Parsons", born Aug. 9, 1886. 



44 Dcsceudauts of Ezckicl ff'UUams. 



JOHX«. 

Born Sept. II, 17(12. Died Dec. 19, 1840. 



Second child and eldest son of Ezekiel and Prudence 
(Stoddard) Williams, graduated at Yale College in 1781. 
He studied law with Judge Chauncey of New Haven and 
afterward settled in his native town, Wethersfield. " Having 
an easy fortune, he early relinquished the law and devoted 
himself to the leading interests of society and to general 
literature. In 1800 he made a public profession of Chris- 
tianity and in after life the study of theology became his 
favorite pursuit — in its doctrines as received by the Puri- 
tans — e^•cr claiming the right of private judgment in its 
tenets. He was esteemed as a gentleman of literary taste, 
liberal attainments and philanthropic views of the claims of 
society, and an ardent patriot in the honor of the country; 
was a patron of religious institutions and a friend and up- 
hoKier of the gospel ministry. In the great benevolent ob- 
jects of the day he was munilicent, in private charity unceas- 
ing, pro\i(.ling for the destitute after his decease. To his 
uncommon personal beauty were added the courtliness of 
dress anil manners of the revolutionary age." (Tribute by 
Or. Archibald Welch, quoted in History of l/ic Ifilliams 
I'\iinil\.) 

He married (i). Sept. 25, 1799, Sophia, daughter of 
Col. John anil Hannah (Hopkins) Worthington of Spring- 
ficlil, born Dec. 5. 1765, died May 5, 18 13. To his record 
of her death her husband added the following: "She was 
faithful in all things; in the character of a wife was every- 
thing a kind husband could ask. As a mother she was wise, 
prudent and aftectionate. The tears of her family and the 
whole neighborhood witnessed that they had lost a dear 
frienil. She was a Christian without affectation and with- 
out superstition." Thcv had issue: 

John- Worth in* gton', bom Sept. 28, 1802; died Oct. 4. 
John Worthington', born Nov. 29, 1803; died Aug. 29, 
1837. 



JoJm TForthington JVilliams. 45 

Hannah Hopkins^ born Feb. 3, 1805; died, unmarried, 
Feb. 26, 1846. 

EzEKiEL Salter', born Nov. 11, 1806; died Jan. 12, 18 16. 

John Worthington^ the second son of John and 
Sophia (Worthington) Williams, early exhibited an unusual 
love of books and in college was called the best belles-lettres 
scholar of his class. He graduated from Yale College in 
1822; studied law in Philadelphia, and began there the prac- 
tice of his profession. But it was not in accordance with his 
taste and after a few years he relinquished it, to devote him- 
self entirely to literature. He had before this attained a 
high reputation as a writer, contributing to the columns of 
the Americaji Quarterly Reviezv, and about twelve months 
before his death had entered upon the chief editorship of 
the National Gazette of Philadelphia, fully prepared for such 
duties as demanded great labor and a high order of intel- 
lect. The following article, written by the associate editor 
of the American Quarterly Review, will show how his char- 
acter and attainments were estimated by those who knew 
him. This Is but one of many testimonies to his character 
and genius which Issued from the Philadelphia press. All 
pronounced his early death to have been a severe loss to the 
city and to the whole country. 

" The editor of this Review would do injustice to his own 
feelings and to the cause of literature If he passed over the 
decease of his late colleague without expressing upon Its 
pages and In a permanent form his sense of the loss which 
the community and the Interests of letters have sustained by 
that event. 

" Mr. Williams was a prominent example of the eminent 
reputation which a devotion to learning and the finer accom- 
plishment of mind will confer. Though in the maturity of 
his Intellect when disease laid her fatal hand upon him and 
marked him for speedy dissolution, he had yielded but a 
short portion of his life to active exertion. Naturally of a 
frame by no means capable of fatigue, the seductions of lit- 
erary repose had withheld him, though so capable of instruct- 
ing and adorning his age, from the vigorous exhibition of 
his great powers. He lived In comparative retirement; stor- 
ing his mind with the rich treasures of antiquity, by a resort 
to the original and pure fountains of classic lore; refining 



46 DescenddHts of Ezck'ui WUliums. 

his taste by the examination and comparison of the gems of 
literature, both ancient and modern; and poHshing his native 
energies for their future development, when circumstances 
should attract him from his retreat. He never sought oppor- 
tunities for distinction. Perhaps this was a deficiency in his 
character, when we rellect upon what he might have done for 
the literary reputation of his country; certainly it was this 
repugnance to an active and bustling career, to public dis- 
play and popular excitement, that disqualified him for certain 
departments of his profession, that of a lawyer, though it 
fitteil him the better for the post of a critic and a journalist, 
in which responsible situation, in his closing days, he shone 
so brightly. 

" This unobtriisiveness and fondness for study had, how- 
ever, in Mr. Williams' instance, the good effect of clothing 
him in ample and perfect armor when he came forth to the 
conduct of one of the leading journals of our city. His varied 
learning, his refined taste, his discriminating judgment, the 
depth and sagacity of his political views, his admirable com- 
mand of language — all conjoined with a generous amiability 
of disposition anil a contempt for mere personal virulence 
and abuse, in which he was never known to indulge, estab- 
lished lor him, in the short period of se\en months, a repute 
second to none of its kind in our country. Few will forget 
his short but brilliant career as editor of the National Ga- 
zcllr. His townsmen knew the disadvantages under which 
a young and untried man labored in assuming an editorial 
chair just \acant by the retirement of a gentleman who had 
raised the Gazette in question to so high a point of distinc- 
tion, but they readily perceived that his station was occupied 
by one umler whose direction no diminution of that distinc- 
tion was to be feared. There was a boldness and a strength 
in the political speculations and views of the new editor which 
excited their admiration equally with the flowers of wit and 
fancy which he scattered with a profuse hand upon the pages 
of that journal. 

"This is not the place in which to speak of Afr. Wil- 
liams' labors as one of the editor of this Review, in the cause 
of sound literature and the true principles of political science. 
His elaborate articles will speak for themselves to all who 
have the interests of either at heart. We may be permitted 



John Worthington JViUiams. 47 

to say, however, that our departed friend and coadjutor was 
no sciolist in aught which constituted the perfectly educated 
gentleman. No merely utilitarian notions directed his ener- 
gies in the attainment of learning. He was of that true school 
whose students drink deeply of waters of knowledge, who 
find in exploring the vast domain of ancient literature pleas- 
ures which none but those who resort thither can taste, who 
feel within them the humanizing and refining and ennobling 
effects of her culture, and the emanations of whose genius, 
when they handle the pen, exhibit the beautiful proportions 
of that grace which is at the upmost reach of art. 

" We may speak, too, of his private virtues, which so 
endeared him to a wide circle of friends, and which must 
have so strengthened the ties of a closer relation as to make it 
almost death to break them. We may speak of the gentle- 
ness and polish of his manners, of the amiability of his tem- 
per, of the total absence from his disposition of all envy, 
hatred or malice. His social qualities were of a high order. 
His friends will long remember the admirable playfulness 
and sprightliness of his fancy and the fund of agreeable anec- 
dote which his extensive reading and keen observation of men 
and manners supplied. His wit was of the most polished 
sort, regulated and chastened by a delicate taste, his humor 
the gentle persuasion to merriment, with naught of the 
coarseness of buffoonery. He was, in a word, a ripe scholar 
and an accomplished man. 

" The lengthened illness of Mr. Williams, while it pro- 
tracted his pains, afforded him a larger opportunity, which 
he gladly embraced, of preparation for his final change. He 
was mercifully spared the sudden stroke of death which so 
often comes in the warmth of the young blood, when the 
passions tempt the heart from the contemplation of man's 
higher destinies. He had time and leisure under a perfect 
consciousness of his approaching dissolution to compose his 
thoughts and to bend the powers of his intellect to frequent 
reflection upon the sacred truths of Christianity. His entire 
resignation, under the most trying circumstances, to the dis- 
pensation of Providence, was a consolatory evidence that 
this reflection brought with it the assurance of hope. To 
such as leave the shores of time with a calm trust in the guid- 
ance of a merciful Redeemer, the passage to eternity is but 
a translation from suffering to glory." 



48 Drscenddiits of Kzckifl JrUluims. 

Mr. Williams married, April 26, 1836, Anne, daughter 
of Michael and Catherine (Caldwell) Keppele of Philadel- 
phia, who died Oct. 16, 1853, aged 45. They had one son: 

John Worth ington", born Feb. 23. 1837; graduated at 
the University of Pennsylvania, 1856; studied law; and during 
the Civil War ser\'ed for two years. He married Sarah E. 
Kcyser, liaughter of Samuel S. and Elizabeth (W}man) Keyser 
of Baltimore. Their children are: 

Elizabeth Wyman", died early. 
Samuel S.', died early. 

Anne Keppele", born July 7, 1866; married, Feb. 12, 
1890, John Kearsley Mitchell, M.D., son of Dr. S. Weir 
and Mary Middlcton (Elwyn) Mitchell, daughter of Dr. 
Eiwyn of Philadelphia. Their children are: 

Mary Miduleton'", born Feb. 14, 1894. 
Sarah Worthixgton'", born July 6, 1896. 
Sarah Keyser", born Dec. 30, 1872; married James 
A. Hayard Kane, M.D.. son of Dr. John K. and Mabel 
(Hayard) Kane of Wilmington, Del.; his father was a 
nephew of Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, U. S. N., the Arctic 
explorer, and his mother was a daughter of Senator James 
A. liayard of Delaware and sister of Ambassador Thomas 
F. IJayard. Their child is: 

Mabel Bayard'", born April 5, 1905. 

Jnn\ WII.I.IAMS^ son of Rzckiel, married (2) Jan. i, 
1S17, (Mrs.) Mary Silliman, widow of Rev. Ebenezer Silli- 
man of Amsterdam, N. Y. She was born in Windham, 
Conn., Nov. 16, 1784, daughter of Col. Thomas and Eliza- 
beth (Ripley) Dyer, and granddaughter of Hon. Eliphalet 
Dyer, all of Windham. She died Aug. 12, 1859. They had 
issue : 

Tho>l\s Scott', born Nov. 20, 1818; died, unmarried, Sept. 
17, 1842. 

Esther Sophla', born May 19, 1820; died, unmarried. 
Mar. 18, 1847. 

Mary Dyer', born Feb. 10, 1822; died Nov. 21, 1905. 

Henry Sh.liman,' born June 2, 1824; died Aug. 29, 1825. 

Elizabeth H^rne', born Mar. 10, 1828; died Dec. 4, 1906. 

Thomas Scott', eldest child of John and Mary (Dyer) 
Williams, graduated at Yale College, 1838, studied law with 
his uncle, Hon. Thomas Scott Williams of Hartford, and 



Sophia JrUliams. 49 

at Harvard University. He had just commenced the prac- 
tice of his profession in Hartford when his sudden death 
brought the deepest sorrow upon his family and friends and 
excited a painful shock and a wide sympathy throughout the 
state as well as in the city and his native town. Rowing for 
pleasure with a friend upon Little (now Park) River, they 
incautiously came too near the dam of the saw-mill, were 
drawn into the rapid current and both drowned. The bodies 
were reco\'ered and that of Thomas laid with his fathers. 

A friend wrote of him as follows: " To those who knew 
Williams we need say nothing to remind them of the vigor, 
of the abilitv and independence of character which he ex- 
hibited on ail occasions. He had a mental strength which 
promised to make an impress on the sphere of his action had 
he attained to the average years of man. There are those 
among us who knew him well and favorably in his college 
life. They knew his well-earned reputation as a scholar, 
his powers of mental concentration, and the firm and inde- 
pendent tone of feeling which characterized all his Inter- 
course. His relations are not alone in their sorrow at his 
untimely death. He moved in a large circle of acquaint- 
ances in this city, who loved him when living, and who will 
delight to cherish his memory now that he is dead. What 
would we not have given could we have stood between him 
and death!" — From The Hartford Coiirant, September 
18, 1842. He was nearly 24 years old and unmarried. 

Esther Sophia^ second child and eldest daughter of 
John and Mary (Dyer) Williams, was an unusually bright 
and spirited girl, of ardent, energetic temperament and 
devotedly attached to those she loved. In childhood she 
evinced great taste and skill in all kinds of feminine handi- 
work and later the same taste was exhibited in her keen 
sense of the beautiful and love of it as it appeared in 
nature, literature and art. More highly still did she appre- 
ciate moral beauty and aspire after its attainment. Fre- 
quent and long illnesses, while they scarcely checked her 
vivacity, chastened and refined her character and led to 
the constant contemplation of spiritual realities in which 
her faith was undoubting, and she found rich compensa- 
tion for all the enjoyments of which the loss of health de- 
prived her. Her beauty and grace charmed the stranger 



50 Dcsccndanls of Ezekicl jriU'uims. 

and a fuller acquaintance was sure to call forth admiration 
and love, 'ihe sudden death of her brother produced a 
shock from which she ne\er recovered and the death of 
her eldest sister, still later, severely affected her. Full of 
life and energy, those about her did not realize the extreme 
delicacy of her frame and restrain her activity or shield 
her from the se\erity of our winters at a time when these 
precautions mi^ht have saved her life. 

Consumption tinally settled upon her and no rernedial 
skill was of any avail to arrest the progress of the disease. 
She suffered much from it and from the remedies employed 
scarcely less; yet she often said that the last year of her 
life was the happiest, and it was a common remark of 
those who visitcil her sick-room that it was the pleasantest 
place in town. She never lost her fine taste or thought it 
any sin to enjoy flowers, books and pictures and to arrange 
them in the most attractive manner. But her sweet, ani- 
iTiated countenance, her conversation, now sparkling with 
a reatlv wit, now serious and earnest, but always glowing 
with intelligence and love, were what gave to the room 
its chiefest charm and made it so desolate when she was taken 
from it. 

One evening we left her, not thinking that her last 
night on earth had come. When we were called to her 
side, before the morning dawned, she could not speak to 
us, but the good friend who had kindly watched with her 
told us afterward that a little while before she had said 
to her, "Miss N.. I love you and I love everybody and I 
love God"; and so, with a spirit attuned to its harmonies, 
she passcil frorii earth to hca\en. 

.M.\KV Dvi.K', second daughter and third child of John^ 
ami Mary (Dyer) Williams, married July 9, 1845, ^^^'• 
Charles Backus, son of Rev. Allen and Sally (Pratt) Mc- 
Lean of Collinsville, Conn., born in Simsbury, Aug. 23, 
1 81 5. He gratluated at Yale, 1.S36; was for more than 
twcntv-two years pastor of the Congregational Church in 
Collins\"ilIe, where he was ordained I-eb. 7, 1844; resigned 
in the spring of 1866 on account of failing health, and after 
a long and painful illness died in Wcthersfield, Oct. 29, 
1873. His long pastorate and the high esteem and strong 
affection which his people always manifested toward him 



McLean. 5 1 

and still retain, in spite of separation and death, testify 
to the excellence of his character, his winning qualities and 
his faithful service. 

[Mrs. Mary D. McLean, the compiler of this record, 
was a woman of unusual mental powers, wide sympathies 
and affections, and of great activity in the communities 
in which she lived. As a pastor's wife In Collinsville 
she performed her duties with energy and scrupulous 
conscientiousness and won from old and young a love and 
devotion that she retained long after she had removed from 
among them. In 1866 she returned to Wethersfield, the 
place of her birth, living with her younger sister in the 
house built by her father in 1831, and, except for a trip 
to California in 1871 and another to England In 1877, 
she remained there till her death in 1905. Afflicted by 
deafness, which in later years became serious, and toward 
the end of her life by rheumatism, which made walking 
difficult, she was in a measure cut off from the outside 
world and had more frequent recourse to her pen. Her 
correspondence was wide-reaching and probably few repre- 
sentatives of the family whose record she kept were better 
known to its members than she. Her advice and knowl- 
edge were widely sought, particularly in genealogical mat- 
ters, for she was a recognized authority on what pertained 
not only to the family of Williams, but to the kindred 
families of Dyer, Stoddard, Chester, etc. She was an ad- 
mirable conversationalist and a delightful story-teller, and 
her anecdotes of old Wethersfield people, their histories 
and oddities, will long linger in the minds of those who' 
heard them. Her generosity was limited only by her 
means, and her unfailing interest in the lives of her 
nephews, nieces, and cousins, her husband's as well as her 
own, was provocative of deep loyalty to her from all of 
them. She was devoted to the interests of the Congrega- 
tional Church, of which she was a member, and as long 
as health permitted was cooperative in Its affairs. Even 
to the last, when able, she attended service, though she could 
not hear a word that was spoken. She was a wide and intel- 
ligent reader, familiar with the current topics of the day and 
alwavs shrewd and keen In the discussion of them. Few 
people of her time and generation have left stronger Impres- 






52 Descendauls of Ezekicl ll'illuuns. 

sions of a remarkable personality upon the minds of those 
who came into contact with her than has she. The following 
obituary notice was printed after her death: 

" An 'elect latly ' — the partial judgment of a kinsman 
may be pardoned for thinking the elect lady — of Weth- 
crsfield will be henceforth only a name and a memory; a 
fragrant memory to many, an honored name to more. Mary 
Dyer .McLean ' fell on sleep ' Nov^ 21st, in the home where 
her youth was nurtured and to which she returned after a 
score of years spent in the pretty manse at CoUinsville as 
wife of Rew Charles B. INIcLean and his faithful and 
efficient helper. 

" Daughter of John and Mary (Dyer) Williams, and 
having in her veins the blood of these families, as of the 
Chesters, Stoddards, Porters, and others honored in New 
England, she proved a loyal and worthy descendant. To 
graces of person and intellect was added a moral character, 
deepened and enriched by the discipline of disappointment 
antl berea\ement. Largely shut off, for most of her life, 
by increasing deafness from society, which she enjoyed and 
was so well fitted to adorn, she found compensation in books 
and writing. Her firm, even chirography, literar\' finish, 
keen sense of humor, warm affection antl devout spirit, made 
her a valued correspondent. Childless herself, she acted the 
mother's part to not a few orphans, and has had satisfaction 
in noting their success, as in the respect and love which they 
and their children have cherished toward her. Better versed 
in the traditions of the town and in the annals of her own 
ami other tamilies than perhaps any other, she has for years 
put her stores of intoniiation at the disposal of any seeker, — 
a labor of love on her part, but a labor none the less, espe- 
cially of late. While strength permitted she felt it a privi- 
lege to worship in the old church which had been the spiritual 
home of her ancestors and the scene of her own espousals. 
Of late, the eyes that had served her so long and well gave 
token of failure. 

" lUit He. who is better than our fears, spared her that 
trial, and in the glory of the autumn called her to come up 
higher where the eyes of the blind are opened to see the King 
in his beauty, and the ears of the deaf unstopped to hear the 
melody of the redeemed. As the shadows began to lengthen 



I 
^1 



AndreiLS. 53 

Thursday afternoon, the hands of kinsmen bore the body to 
Its burial in the rural cemetery behind the church, attended by 
a company of kindred, neighbors, and friends, on foot, while 
the bells tolled the years — fourscore and more — of another 
of the Father's children welcomed to the 'many mansions.' "] 
Elizabeth Byrne", third daughter and youngest child 
of John and Mary Dyer Williams, married, as his second 
wife, July 21, 1858, Rev. William Watson Andrews, son of 
Rev. William and Sarah (Parkhill) Andrews, born, Wind- 
ham, Feb. 26, 1 8 10; graduated Yale College, 1831; was 
: pastor of the Congregational Church in Kent, Conn., from 
' May, 1834, to May, 1849; since which time, until his death, 
Oct. 17, 1897, pastor and evangelist in the Catholic Apos- 
tolic Church, residing in Wethersfield. They had issue : 

Mary Williams', born, Wethersfield, May 29, i860. 

Charles McLean", born, Wethersfield, Feb. 22, 1863; 
graduated Trinity College, 1884; Ph.D. Johns Hopkins Uni- 
versity, 1889; Professor of History, Bryn Mawr College, 1889- 
1907; ibid J Johns Hopkins University, 1907; married, June 19, 
1895, Evangeline Holcombe, daughter of Dr. John Crawford 
and Laura Marlon (Se}'mour) Walker of Indianapolis. Their 
children are: 

Ethel', born, Bryn Mawr, May 30, 1897. 

John Williams', born, Br>'n Mawr, Nov. 10, 1898. 

Elizabeth Parkhill*, born, Wethersfield, Sept. 9, 1868. 



54 



Descendants of Ezekiel Williams. 



HARRIETS 

Born June 26, 1764. Died June 5, 1850. 



Second daughter and third child of Ezekiel and Prudence 
(Stoddard) Williams, married, Nov. 24, 1785, Rev. David 
Parsons, D.D., for about thirty years pastor of the Con- 
gregational Church in Amherst, Mass. He died in Wethers- 
field, at the age of 74 years, May 18, 1823, while on a visit. 
For some account of his life and a brief delineation of his 
most striking character, see Sprague's Annals, II, p. 120. 

The children were: 

Ezekiel', born Feb. 16, 1787; died in New York City, 
Nov. 9, 1868. 

David', born June 10, 1788; died June 17, 1872. 

Prudence', born Dec. 24, 1789; died in Dunkirk, Mar. 16, 
1881. 

Thomas', born Oct. 10, 1791; died Aug. 21, 1832. 

Harriet', born Aug. 6, 1793; died May 21, 1874. 

Fraxces', born Feb. 16, 1795; died Man 9, 1861. 

Mary', born Dec. 8, 1796; died Sept. 29, 1876. 

Caroline', born Sept. 15, 1798, died, unmarried, Jan. 5, 
1820. 

Soi'hia', born Aug. 8. 1800; died Feb. 26, 1880. 

William', born Oct. 30, 1802; died, unmarried, April 18. 
1830. 

James', born Nov. 15, 1804; died Sept. 3, 1833. 

Ezekiel", the first child of Harriet Williams and David 
Parsons, became a physician and settled in Colchester, Conn. 
He married, June 17, 1822, Sarah Clark, daughter of Ezra 
and Eunice (Foote) Clark of Colchester, who died Dec. 7, 
1864. They had issue: 

Harriet Williams*, born Mar. 3, 1829; married, June 
21, 1853, Joseph Jauncey Outerbridge Brown, a lawyer in New 
York City, who died May 6, 1894. They had issue: 

Sarah Louise", born Sept. 29, 1854; married, June 7, 
1882. E!d\\in Langdon, born In Southington, Conn., Jan. 
29, 1848. Mr. Langdon is a lawyer in New York city. 



Parsons. Brozvn. ^^ 

Elizabeth Agnes", born April 17, 1856; married, June 
17, 1884, Hubert Alan Kingsbury, born April i, 1856, died 
Sept. 24, 1 89 1. They had issue. 

Frances Davenport'", born April 26, 1885; 
died the same day. 

Lois Evelyn'", born Mar. 5, 1887; died of heart 
disease and pneumonia, April 4, 1898. 
Helen Jauncey'", born Sept. 9, 1890. 
Ralph David Parsons^ homeopathic physician, born 
May 30, 1862; married (i), in 1887, Tasheline Little of 
Hartford; divorced, Mrs. Brown, marrying Col. Early, 
and after a second divorce, 1900, Mr. Jarvis. One child: 
Carol Jauncey Outerbridge'". 
Mr. Brown married (2), 1903 (4?), Anne Geer of 
Denver, Colorado. One daughter: 

Gwendoline'", born June, 1906. 
Edgar Ronald Ketchum", born Dec. i, 1863; law- 
yer. New York ; unmarried. 
Caroline Sophia', born Oct. 8, 1820; married, June 22, 
1858, William Russel, a merchant in New York City. One 
child : 

Sarah Rebecca", born Nov. 8, 1863; unmarried. 
Mary Salter^ born Nov. 16, 1836; died June 22, 1842. 

David^, the second child of Harriet Williams and David 
Parsons, settled in Amherst, Mass. He was a jeweler and 
machinist. Married (i), Jan. 31, 18 16, his second cousin, 
Elizabeth Williams, daughter of Edward Williams of East 
Hartford, and granddaughter of Rev. Dr. Eliphalet Wil- 
liams of that place; born at East Hartford, March 5, 1789; 
died Oct. 5, 1844. David Parsons married (2) Dec. 16, 
1845, (Mrs.) Lucy (Chapman) Howell of Hartford, who 
died, Clinton, Conn., April 24, 1878. The children by the 
first wife were : 

Edward Williams', born Dec. 28, 1816; married, Nov. 28, 
1839, Caroline Matilda Stebbins, daughter of Jonathan and 
Catherine (Coates) Stebbins, born, Newport, R. L, Mar. 13, 
1816, of Longmeadow, Mass. He was prominent in Hartford 
as a man of business and held many responsible positions ; for 
many years he was president of the Connecticut Life Insurance 
Company; died Sept. 25, 1898. Their children are: 

Elizabeth Williams", born, Amherst, Dec. 7, 1840; 
married Nov. 20, 1866. Frederick Elizur Goodrich, son 
of Elizur Tryon and Mary (Beach) Goodrich, of Hart- 



Dcsccudauts of Ezckicl JFUUams. 

ford. Mr. and Mrs. Goodrich reside in Boston, where he 
is editor of the Boston Post. Their children are: 

Uavid Parsons'", born June 14, 1863; married at 
Hartford, Oct. 14. 1902, Clementine Keagy. 

Harold Beach'", born April 14, 1870; married, 
Sept. 30, 1902. Jessie Weir of Nova Scotia. 
Theodora Carolixe'", born Mar. 10, 1874. 
Charles Henry", born April 17, 1843; married (i) 
Oct. 17, 1807, Marj' Adelaide Mortimer, daujjhter of 
Benjamin and Eliza (Diiryea) Mortimer of Brooklvn, 
N. \., born at New Brunswick, N. J.; died Mar. 7. 1888. 
(2) Nov. 12, 1890, Mrs. Charlotte Mortimer Reminfzton, 
a sister of his first wife. Children by the first wife are: 
Charley Adelaide'", horn Oct. 4, 1869; married 
Francis Marion Pinkney. One son: 

Louis Mortimer", born Feb. 11, 1903. 
Louis Mortimer'", born Nov. 25, 1870. 
^^\REL'', born Sept. 3, 1877. 
ALadeline'", born July 2. 1880. 
Caroline Stebbins", born Oct, 13, 1849; died in Hart- 
ford. Mar. 2, 1 88 1, unmarried. 
Caroline Miranda', born Feb. 6, 1819; married, April 
19. 1842. William F. Church, son of Uriah and Ph(rbe Church 
of Middlefield. ^L-lss. Mr. Church left his home while \et a 
bo\', living some jears in Amherst, Mass., aftenvard in New 
\ ork City, and finally in Cincinnati, where he was in active 
business as an insurance apent for forty years, and built up for 
himself a reputation " as a clear-minded conscientious business 
man and upright citizen." In 1872 was appointed state com- 
missioner of insurance for Ohio where he organized the depart- 
ment of insurance. He died in Huntington. ^Lass.. near his 
native town, Oct. 15, 1892. Mrs. Church died at North Egre- 
mont, ALiss., Oct. i, 1903. 

Charles Henry', horn Dec. i. 1821 ; died June. 1898, at 
Washington; married Jan. 5, i8s2. Sarah, daughter of Ezekiel 
and Bethiah (Merriam) (Hall) Rice of West Meriden, Conn. 
They had issue: 

Ellen Rice", born, Cleveland, O., Jan. 7, 1853; died 
Oct. 19, same year. 

Francis Henry", born. Cleveland, Jan. 2},. 1855; 
married at Washington. D. C. June 3, 1880, Sophia Fisher. 
Their children are: 

AuRELiA Blair'", born April 20; died Dec. 27, 
1885. 
Alice Francis'", born Jan. 12, 1887. 



Parsons. Fiske. 57 

Charles Edward", born Sept. 6, i88g. 
EzEKiEL William', born May 28, 1825; married, Sept. 7, 
1 85 1, at Lx)well, Mass., to Aurelia Rebecca Chamberlain, died 
Jan. 7, 1864; jeweler in Quincy, 111., died Nov. 25, 1863. One 
daughter: 

Carrie May", born May i, 1854; died Dec. 26, 1861. 
Elizabeth Barnard^ born Dec. 14, 1827; married, Nov. 
22, 1848, Charles Moore, merchant in Ware, Mass., who died 
May 3. 1876; she died. New Braintree, Mass., Aug. 17, igo2. 
Harriet Sophia*, born Oct. 31, 1830; principal of Brad- 
burn School, Cleveland, O. ; died, Washington, D. C, Dec. 
8, 1893. 

Naxcy Porter", born Mar. g, 1833; married July 26, 1855,. 
William Fiske, son of Rev, John Fiske, D,D,, and Betsey (Mel- 
len) Fiske, of New Braintree, Mass., who died at Newark,. 
N, J,, Mar. 10, 1894; she died at Jamaica Plains, Mass., Nov. 
ig, igo6. Their children are: 

Grace Parsons'', born April 13, i85g; adopted in 
place of an infant who died at birth and was about the same 
age; married Mr. Marsh. 

John Percy", born Jan. 12, 1862; died September of 
same year. 

Parnelle Coan^ born June 26, 1864; unmarried. 
James Mellen^ born June 16, 1868; died Aug. 27th of 
same year. 

William Perry', born, Brooklyn, N. Y., Sept. g, i86g; 
married, June 16, ig02, Ruth Robey Tucker of Jamaica 
Plains. They have two children : 

Elizabeth Fiske'", born, Sharon, Mass., Oct. 7, 
igo3. 

Nancy Fiske", born Dec. 17, igo4. 
Edward PARSONS^ born. Brooklyn, N. Y., July 11,. 
1872; died Sept. i8th of the same year. 

PRUDENCE^ eldest daughter and third child of Harriet 
Williams and David Parsons, married, Oct. 7, 1823, Rev. 
Marcus Smith, a native of Dorchester, Mass. He was a 
graduate of Middlebury College, 18 18, and Andover Theo- 
logical Seminar}', 1821, and settled in Rensselaersville, N. 
Y.; died July i, 1871. They had issue: 

David Parsons', born June 21, 1824; died Jan. 31, 1834. 
Samuel Moseley', born Feb. g, 1826; graduated at the 
Albany ^ledical College, i84g, married, Mar, 4, 1869, Sarah 



58 Descendiints of Ezckiel ff'ilUams. 

Cummins Carlisle of Lancaster, N. H.; resided, Dunkirk, 
N. Y.; died April, 1889. 

Marcis W'ithivc.tox, born Jan. 23, 1838; married, Oct. 
9, 1850, Fannie Caroline Hitchcock. Their children arc: 

Francis Parsons", born Aug;. 3, 1854; married Oct. 
19, 1878, Sarah Hawkins; died Jan. 7, 1881. Child: 
Fran'chs Caroline'", tx^rn Oct. 10, 1879. 
Helen Antoinette", born Aug. 19. 1857; married. 
Dec. 25, 1875, Robert Golden. 

Edward Newell", born May 7, i860. 
Robert Wvnkoop", born Sept. 3, 1867. 
Francis Brown', born Nov. 12, 1829; died Dec. 24, 1830. 

Tllo.\i.\s\ third son and fourth child of Harriet Wil- 
liams and David Parsons, married, March 18, 1822, Frances 
Catherine Chappell of New London, Conn., w'ho died Aug., 
1865. He was a merchant in New London, and died In 
Colchester, Aug. 21, 1832. They had issue: 

A daughter", born and died in 1823. 
A son\ born and died in 1824. 

Harriet Williams', born Jan. 8, 1825; died, unmarried, 
June 4, 1856. 

Richard Chappel\ born Oct. 10, 1827; married, Nov. 11. 
1 85 1. Sarah Starkweather, daughter of Hon. Samuel and Julia 
Starkweather of Pawtucket ; prominent in political life, holding 
many important offices, such as marshal of the United States 
Supreme Court, member of Congress, 1872, for Twentieth Dis- 
trict of Ohio, etc.; resided in Cleveland; died . Their 

children were: 

Julia STARKWEATHER^ born ^L\v 4. 1854. 
Richard Chappel", born Oct. 29, 1858. 
Fanny", born Dec. 3, i8b6; died Mar. 3, 1868. 

Marian Leeds", born Sept. 10. 1829; married (i) Oct. 20, 
1849, George Hinsdale Hurritt of New Britain, Conn., who 
died June 20, 1873. l^he\ had one daughter and two sons. 
who died at the ages of two. three and sixteen respectively. She 
married (2), April 30, 1877, Abel Denison Breed, merchant 
and manufacturer of New "V'ork City, who died Dec. 24. 1888. 
She died Nov. 16. 1896. 

William Williams', born Mar. 3, 1831; died unmarried, 
^Lny 14. 1853. 

Harrii-t", seconil daughter and fifth child of Harriet 
Williams and David Parsons, married, Aug. 8, 1827, Rev. 



Washburn. Parsons. 59 

Royal Washburn, graduate of Vermont University, 1820, 
and of Andover Theological Seminary, 1824, pastor of the 
First Congregational Church In Amherst from 1826 until 
his death In January, 1833. Their children were: 

John Henry", born, Amherst, Oct. 27, 1828; educated 
Amherst Academy, Wllliston Seminary, Amherst College, 1849; 
read law, Rutland, Vt., and Granville, N. Y. ; married, Oct. 
17. 1853, Jane Ives, who died Oct. 21, 1898; entered service of 
Home Insurance Co., New York City, of which he became 
president in 1901, resigned 1904; an efficient and trusted leader 
in some of the most important religous enterprises of the day. 
One son : 

William Ives', born Aug. 30, 1854; married. May 15, 
1882, Carrie W. Fisher. Their children are: 

Grace Ives/" born Sept. 13, 1884; unmarried. 
William Ives, Jr.", born May 24. 1887. 
Natalie Fisher"*, born May 27, 1895; died Dec. 
17, 1895. 
William Parsons', born April 15, 1830; married, Macon, 
Georgia, 1864 (i) (Mrs.) Ruth Marion (Brown) Leonard, 
who died Oct. 14. 1877; (2) (Mrs.) Eliza J. Maynard, Nov. 
5, 1880; highly esteemed and prosperous, a confederate colonel, 
lawyer, judge, Sunday School superintendent, elder in the Pres- 
byterian Church, having one of the finest estates (at Knoxville) 
in eastern Tennessee; died Feb. 9, 1904. Children by second 
wife who is still living: 

Mary Parsons', born June 29, 1882; died Jan. 24, 

1885. 
William Parsons', born July 30, 1885. 

Francis^ the fourth son and sixth child of Harriet 
Williams and David Parsons, graduated at Yale College. 
1 8 16, and established himself as a lawyer In Hartford. " He 
was judge of the County Court and held many positions of 
trust and responsibilty, but for the most part avoided po- 
litical life. He married Dec. 23, 1829, Clarissa Brown, 
daughter of William Brown, formerly of Hartford, who 
died March 16, 1866; he died March 9, 1861. She was 
a ver}^ superior woman, highly esteemed by all the relatives 
of her husband, and many now living hold her In grateful 
and affectionate remembrance. Their children were: 

John Caldwell", born June 3, 1832; graduated Yale Col- 
lege, 1855; lawyer in Hartford, and like his father held many 



I 



6o Descendants of Ezekiel JFUUams. 

positions of trust and responsibility; chairman Board of Street 
Commissioners of Hartford, 1 872-1880; in command of First 
Company, Governor's Foot Guards, 1875-1877; married, April 
7, 1870, Mar>- McClcllan, daujihter of Dr. Samuel and Mar- 
garet (Fly) McClcllan of Philadelphia, who died Jan. 22. 
1871; he died March 11, 1898; esteemed, beloved, and deeply 
lamented. One son: 

Franxis", born Jan. 13, 1871 ; graduated Yale College.. 
1893; Yale Law School, 1897; on Gov. Lounsburj^'s Staff 
as assistant quartermaster-general with rank of colonel, 
1 899- 1 900; married, June 22, 1897, Flizabeth Alden 
Hutchins, daughter of Robert Ambrose and Georgiana 
Alden Hutchins of Brandon, \'t., born Feb. 6, 1872. 
Their children are: * 

Marv". born May 13, 1898. 
John Caldwell"', born April 26, 1900. 
Franxis'", born Sept. 14, 1906; died Sept. 16, 1906- 
^ Marv Hooki:r\ born Feb. 2, 1835; married, June 6, 1866, 
Captain W'atscjn Webb of the United States Army, who died 
Dec. 3. 1876. They had issue: 

Franxis Parsons", born Sept. 26, 1868. 
Hrn.i-N Lispenard", born Sept. 23, 1870; married Law- 
son Averell Carter; died Cooperstown. N. Y., May I2, 
1896. One child: 

Lawson Averell Lispenard", born ALay 12, 
1896; died the same day. 
Jane CiiESTER\ born Oct. 4, 1839; died Jan. 9, 1843. 
Elizabeth Scott", born June 14, 1842; married, Feb. 26, 
1864, Capt. John Worthington Newton, born Aug., 1834, 
graduate of the University of \'ermont, 1857, who died Jan.. 
1905; she died in Hartford, Feb. 26,. 1905. They adopted a 
daughter in infancy: 

Harriet Worthington", born Nov. 9, 1866; married, 
Jime 5. 1889, Dr. Arthur Bosanko of Colorado, who 
was born Nov. 25, 1855, and died Nov. 23, iSgs. One 
child: 

Paul Bosanko'", born Aug. 19, 1891. 

^ Marv', third daughter and seventh child of Harriet 
WiIIiaiTis and David Parsons, married her cousin, Rev. 
William Williams of Salem, Mass. 

Cakoi.ink", fourth daughter and eighth child of Harriet 
Williams and David Parsons, died unmarried, Jan. 5, 1820. 

Sophia P.\i.mi:k\ fifth daughter and ninth child of 
Harriet Williams and David Parsons, married as second 



Parsons. 6 1 

wife, Rev. Silas Aiken, D.D. of Boston, Mass., May 24, 
1837. He was a graduate of Dartmouth College, 1825; 
tutor for three years; ordained at Amherst, N. H., March 
4, 1829; pastor of Park Street Church, Boston; removed 
in 1847 to Rutland, Vt., where he was installed pastor of 
the Congregational Church and remained until his death, 
April 7, 1869. Their children were : 

Henry Homes*, born Jan. 26, 1843; died Sept. i, 1846. 
Harriet Sophia^ born Jan. 12, 1848. 

William', fifth son and tenth child of Harriet Williams 
and David Parsons, entered Amherst College with the class 
of 1825 but left before graduation, and studied medicine 
Avith the celebrated physician. Dr. Samuel B. Woodward of 
Wethersfield. He died unmarried, April 18, 1830, in 
Canaan, Conn., where he was engaged in the practice of his 
profession. 

James', sixth son and youngest child of Harriet Wil- 
liams and David Parsons, graduated at Amherst College in 
1830; became a lawyer; married April 5, 1832, Mary Eliza 
Lewis of Forsyth, Georgia, who died at Monteagle, Tenn., 
June 26, 1905. Their children were: 

Francis WASHBURN^ born Jan. 5, 1833; married, June 11, 
1862, Sarah Paine Hervey, who died Mar. i, 1884. They had 
issue : 

Hervey", born Mar. 8, 1863; died May 16, 1866. 
Harriet Hale', born Feb. i, 1866; married at Ded- 
ham, Mass, Dec. 13, 1893, George W. Oakes of Savannah, 
Georgia. 

Eliza Lewis", born May 6, 1869. 
James', born May 5, 1834, several months after the death 
of his father; married, Feb. 26, 1874, Mary Fisher Norris, 
daughter of Dr. George W. Norris of Philadelphia, who died in 
1894; he was admitted to the Philadelphia bar in 1857 and 
elected Professor of Law in the University of Pennsylvania, Feb. 
3, 1874; died of pneumonia, Philadelphia, Mar. 22. 1900. 
Their children are: 

Lewis Hines", born April 30, 1876; unmarried. 
Mary Norris'', born 1881 ; unmarried. 



62 Descendants of Ezek'icl JFUUams. 



EZEKIEL«. 

Born Dec. 29, 1765. Died Oct. 18, 1843. 



Second son and fourth child of Ezekiel and Prudence 
(Stoddard) WilHams, graduated at Yale College, 1785. 
He married Abigail Ellsworth, eldest daughter of Hon. 
Oliver and Abigail (AVolcott) Ellsworth, born at Windsor, 
Aug. 1774, and died Feb. 26, i860. Mr. Williams was 
for many years engaged in business in Hartford. They 
had one son : 

Oi.iVKR Ellsworth", born April 19, 1796; graduated 
Yale College, 18 16; lawyer by profession and resident of 
Hartford; married April 25, 18 19, Elizabeth Barker 
Croade, daughter of Nathaniel Croade of North Prov- 
idence, R. I., who died March, 1874, aged 74; he died 
June, i87(j. I heir children were: 

Ellkn\ born June 25, 1820; married Cornelius Vanderbilt, 
son of Commodore \'anderbilt. Mar. 25. 1872. 

Elizabeth Chanxixg', born Oct. 18, 1821; died, un- 
married, Au^. 31, 1865. 

Mar^- Howard', born April 17, 1830; died in Wethersfield, 
Nov. 20. 1890. 

Augusta Hart", born Mar. 31, 1841; resides in Hartford. 



Howard. 63 



PRUDENCES 

Born Oct. 2, 1767. Died Mar. 24, 1853. 



Third daughter and fifth child of Ezekiel and Prudence 
(Stoddard) WiUiams, married May 12, 1790, Rev. 
Bezaleel Howard, D.D., who was born at Bridgewater, 
Mass., Nov. 22, 1753; graduated at Harvard College, 
1 781; studied theology under Rev. Dr. Ebenezer Gay of 
Hingham, Mass. 

In 1703 he was appointed tutor at Cambridge and 
held the office until he was invited, in the autumn of 1784, 
to become the pastor of the First Church in Springfield, 
Mass. (Was ordained to this office, April, 1785). In 
1803 his health failed and his voice was so seriously affected 
that he was never able to preach afterward, but he con- 
tinued to be the pastor of the church until the year 1809, 
when a successor was appointed and " the grateful and af- 
fectionate regards of his people followed him to retired 
life." He died Jan. 20, 1837. For very interesting 
sketches of his life and character see Sprague's Annals of 
the American Pulpit. 

Of Mrs. Howard (Prudence Williams) one of these 
sketches says, " She was a most gentle being, of very calm 
exterior and almost unfit to cope with the harsher world 
without. When the writer first saw her she and her husband 
sat side by side, at the dinner table with their children 
around them, her face bearing the remains of great beauty. 
One charm she retained to the last, her soft hazel dovelike 
eye. After his death she lived quietly on in the room so 
long consecrated by prayers and pious conversation, with- 
drawing more and more from a world she never cared to 
mingle with. She found her chief solace in the Bible, in 
holy hymns, prayers and alms; for like her husband, she 
was a ready and cheerful giver. Death came to her in the 
gentlest form. She had a severe cold, but they scarcely 
considered her in a dangerous condition. Her son was in 
the room with her and his daughters too, who watched her 



^4 Descendants of Ezekiel JJ'ilUams. 

with the tenderest care. Thou^^h her life had so long been 
a preparation for death, she had never lost her dread of 
the last conBict, but in its near approach she had no terror; 
for she passed away in a gentle slumber and so God ' gave 
His beloved sleep.'" Re\-. Dr. Sprague a near neighbor 
and friend says, " Mrs. Howard who was a highly intel- 
ligent and benevolent lady died on the 24th of March, 
1853." The children of Prudence Williams and Dr. 
Bezalcel Howard were: 

John', born 1791; died Oct. 24, 1849, aged 58 years, 6 
months. 

Charles', born Mar. 21, 1794: died Sept. 18, 1875. 

Margaret', born 1792; died Dec. 9, 1810. 

EzEKiEi.', born Dec. 27, 1796: died at Salem. Feb. 5, 1818. 
when a senior in Harvard College. 

John', eldest son of Prudence Williams and Rev. Dr. 
Howard, graduated at Yale College, 18 10; was a lawyer by 
profession, but chiefly occupied in the care of large financial 
concerns in which he held important offices. He married, 
Dec. 18, 1 8 18, Mary Stoddard, daughter of Col. Thomas 
and Hannah ( Worthington) Dwight of Springfield, a very 
superior woman greatly admired and beloved. She was 
born Jan. 26, 1792, and died in Springfield July 20, 1836. 
Mr. Howarcl was a very prominent citizen of Springfield 
and his death was greatly lamented by the community at 
large. Their children were: 

Hannah Worthington', horn Aug. 12, 1821; married as 
his second wife, April 18. 1844, William Henrj- Swift, son of Dr. 
Foster and Deborah (Delano) Swift of Boston, a captain in 
the United States Army, corps of topographical engineers. 
They had no children. 

^Iargaret', born May n, 1823; married, May, 1853 (?). 
Charles William Swift, a step-son of her sister Hannah. She 
died in [.(indon. April 22, 1 893. They had issue: 

Mary Howard", born 1857; married (i), Feb., 1887, 
Alfred St. Johnston of Birmingham, England, who died in 
1890 or 1 89 1. One son: 

Adrian"', born 1889. 
She married (2) Robert Falconer Macdonald, son of the 
novelist, George Macdonald. 
Josephine Louisa', born i860. 



Stoeckl. Howard. 65 

Frances Ames", born April 5 (or 20), 1825; resides with 
her younger sister in Paris. 

Eliza Wetmore', born May 3 or 6, 1826; married, Jan, 2, 
1856, Edward de Stoeckl, secretary of the Russian Legation 
at Washington, 1844- 1854, charge d'affaires, 1 849-1 851, min- 
ister, 1 854- 1 869. M. de Stoeckl was also a privy councillor 
of the Russian Empire. In 1867 he negotiated and signed the 
treaty by which Russia ceded Alaska to the United States. In 
1869 he left the diplomatic service and resided in Paris until 
his death, Jan. 26, 1892, at the age of 87. Mme. de Stoeckl 
lives at 3 Rue de Logelbach, Paris. One son: 

Alexander de Stoeckl", born Jan. i, 1862; entered 
the diplomatic service in 1879, and after some years in 
Russia was appointed attache to the Russian Embassy in 
London. In 1897 he was attached as equery to the Grand 
Duke Michael Mihaelovitch. He is a chamberlain of 
H. M. the Emperor Nicholas II with the rank of coun- 
cillor of state. In 1892 he married Miss Barron and they 
have one daughter: 

Loia"', born in 1893. 

Charles'^, second son of Prudence Williams and Rev. 
Dr. Howard, was a merchant and manufacturer, and from 
1829 to 1 841 paymaster at the U. S. Armory in Springfield. 
Later, 1 846-1 849, he was an officer in the Custom House, 
Boston. He married (i), 18 18, Anna McCarthy, daughter 
of Eben H. Williams of Deerfield, Mass., who died in 
1822, leaving no children; (2), Elizabeth Buckminster, 
daughter of Col. Thomas Dwight and sister of the wife of 
his brother John; born Feb. 18, 1801, died Oct. 7, 1855. 
The mother of these sisters was a daughter of Col. Worth- 
ington and sister of the first wife of John Williams'' of 
Wethersfield (see ante). Of Elizabeth Buckminister 
(Dwight) Howard it was said, " she was one of the wisest 
and wittiest women in Springfield's social annals." Many 
now living have such delightful memories of her cheerful 
presence and entertaining stimulating conversation as to 
think that her dear friend Mrs. Joseph Lyman of North- 
ampton scarcely exaggerated, when on her return from a 
visit in Springfield, she said, " It's worth a guinea a minute 
to be with Betsey." Of Hon. Charles Howard a local 
paper said, " He has been a man of good health and happy 
life; he lived long and simply. He died because he had 



66 Desccudiuiis of Ezekiel WilUams. 

got through, without serious or prolonged sickness, with his 
chiklrcn around him and with an intelligent wish to go. Vov 
himself there is no occasion to regret; for us we must all 
feel the loss of one of the great and most interesting historic 
monuments of the town." The children of Charles and 
Elizabeth B. Howard were: 

LuciNDA Orxe", born Mar, 8, 1825; associated with her 
sisters Sophia and Katharine in the charge of a boarding and 
day school for young ladies, which the editor of the Spritifrfield 
Ri publican said was " one of our great local prides." It is now 
the McDuffie School. She died, after an illness of but a few 
days, Jan. 24, 1899. 

Thomas Dwight", born Dec. 25, 1826, a graduate of Har- 
vard College; connected with several philanthropic enterprises 
and for many years pastor of a Unitarian church in Charles- 
town, N. H. Now retired and living in Springfield. He mar- 
ried, June 8, 1854, Sarah A. Platon of Perry, Maine, daughter 
of David and Margaret (Buhner) Eaton, who was born at 
Eastport, Maine, 1831, and died in Charlestown, Nov. 13, 1898, 
aged 68. 

Elizabeth Bridge", born Dec. 17, 1828; married, Oct. 16, 
1856, William Shaw Tiffany, artist, son of Osmond and Anna 
(Siiaw) Tiffany, of Baltimore; now residing in New York; 
she died July 12, 1900. They had issue: 

Osmond Checklev". born in Baltimore, Nov. 26, 1858; 
died Nov. 27 or 28, i8(j2. 

Elizabeth Dwight", born in Bristol, R. I., June i, 
1861; married, June 26, 1884, Charles Richardson Dil- 
worth of Pittsburg; died at Savin Rock, New Haven, 
Dec, 1 89 1. 

Charles Howard", born in Northampton, Sept. 26, 
1863; traffic manager of the West Virginia Paper 5: Pulp 
Co. ; now residing in New York. 

Robert Shaw", born in Binghamton, Feb. 11, 1872; 
died in August of the same year. 
Sophia Worth ington", born Jan. 26, 183 1; one of the 
three sisters in charge of the school before mentioned. Now liv- 
ing in Springfield. 

Katharine Lathrop", born Feb. 24, 1833; in charge, as 
principal, of the school for young ladies; died Dec. i, 1897. 
A volume of her letters written from Europe, 1 869-1 871 has 
been published. 

Mary Dwight", born Oct. 12, 1835; married, Oct 31, i860, 
Alexander Edward Andrews, son of Rev. Dr. Edward and 



Andrews. Hayward. 67 

Elizabeth (Harper) Andrews of Blnghamton, N. Y., who 
graduated at Hobart College, 1853; was recorder of the City of 
Binghamton, 1 867-1 874; member of New York legislature, 
1878, 1880; a lawyer and real estate agent in Binghamton; she 
died Sept. 26, 1904. Their children are: 

Charles Howard", born Nov, 22, 1861 ; married in 
i8go, Clara Redd; he is a druggist in Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Their children are: 

Alexander Howard'", born Aug. 23, 1890. 
Earl Robin", born Nov. 13, 1892. 
Edward Augustine", born Sept. 21, 1863; married 
his first cousin, Margaret G. Hayward^ daughter of Sarah 
B. (Howard) and James Warren Haj^ward, June 8, 1901. 
Their children are: 

Elizabeth Howard'", born June 15, 1902. 
Emily Hayward'", born Mar. 13, 1904; died Mar, 
27, 1906. 
Robert Harper^ born April 7, 1868; died a week after. 
James Hayward", born Dec, 28, 1871 ; married, June, 
1897, Louise Ely Hagerman, born May, 1875. 

Helen Wright", born Sept. 29, 1875; married, July 

14, 1906, Dr. George Hopkinson, born Oct. 20, 1873. 

Sarah Bancroft\ born Sept. 13, 1838; married, Dec. 25, 

1866, James Warren Haj^ward, son of James Thatcher and 

Sarah (Dawes) Hayward, Roxbur>^ Resided in Roxbury, later 

in Cambridge. Their children are: 

Emily Howard", born Aug. 30, 1867. 
Margaret Greenleaf", born Oct, 7, 1869; married 
her first cousin, Edward A. Andrews". 

Nathan", born Aug. 27, 1872; graduated Harvard 
University, 1895, and Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 
nology, 1897; general contract agent. Bell Telephone Co., 
Philadelphia; married, April 30, 1907, Anna Howell 
Lloyd, daughter of Mr. and Mrs, Malcolm Lloyd of 
Philadelphia, 
DwiGHT Hayward', died in early childhood. 
Emily Williams*', born Dec. 21, 1840; resides in Cam- 
bridge. 

Amelia Peabody*, born June 4, 1843; died Jan. 21, 1844. 
John', born June 28, 1845; died August 27, 1845. 



68 Descendants of Ezekiel IVilliams. 



MARY«. 

Born Aug. 14, 1769. Died Nov. 25, 1850. 



Fourth daughter and sixth child of Ezekiel and Prudence 
(Stoddard) Williams, married May 7, 1789, her first cousin, 
John Salter of Mansfield.* 

He was born June 17, 1769, graduated from Yale Col- 
lege, as A.M., 1788, afterward studied law, but did not 
practice much, if at all, at the Bar. He was an able magis- 
trate, sustaining for many years the office of Justice of the 
Peace, an office of considerable importance in that day. 
For a few years he was Registrar of Deeds. Year after 
year he was invariably elected as presiding officer of the 
town meetings and was almost uniformly elected one of the 
representatives of the General Assembly. He was colonel 
of a regiment, stationed off New London during the war 
of 18 12. Subsequently he was made general in the state 
militia. He also held other responsible local and general 
positions. Whatever he did, he did well. He cultivated a 
large farm, and enjoyed his rides on horseback, overlooking 
and directing his workmen. But his inclination was for 
sedentary life; his leisure hours were largely employed in 
general reading, of which he was ver}^ fond. Occasionally 
he wrote poetry, and now and then commented, in the news- 
papers of the day, on some theological point. This work, 
however, was ephemeral in character. His was a large, 
generous, hospitable nature; he enjoyed throwing his doors 



• For the full and very interesting Record of the family Avhich comes 
next in order of the descendants of Ezekiel Williams, I am wholly indebted 
to Miss Edith Apnes Salter", youngest daughter of the late R. H. Salter', 
M.D., of Boston, Mass. 

She apologizes in a very happy manner for presenting only favorable 
aspects of character, admitting that like all others her honored relations had 
their faults, hut "They struggled against them and death has long since 
hidden them from view, leaving in our memories only the fragrance of their 
virtues, the taste of their high principles, the delight of their good minds." 
Of the living, much that might have been written in the same strain, she 
thought it best for the present to omit. Lack of information alone, made it 
necessary to pass over some no longer with us with very brief notice. 



Salter. 69 

open for the visits of his relations and friends, toward whom 
he showed every consideration, and was prompt, even 
punctilious, in returning civilities. In perfect accordance 
with his wife, he was noted for his humane, thoughtful, and 
charitable disposition towards the poor, the sick poor 
especially, delighting to make them recipients of his bounty 
from year to year; while his wife looked after the more 
personal needs of the sick. Mary Salter was a perfect wife 
and mother and a noble woman. Of calm and even temper- 
ament, firm will and firm intellect, she was well disciplined, 
well balanced, and was devoutly religious, living up to the 
grace that was In her, and making her whole life in sweet 
accord. Her children have risen up and called her blessed. 
Higher praise she does not need. She died Nov. 25, 1850. 
Gen. Salter had died before her, June 6, 1831. They had 
Issue: 

Christian', born Feb. 26, 1790; died in Mansfield, unmar- 
ried, Nov. 2, 1856. 

Harriet Maria', born Mar. 20, 1792; died in Elyria, Aug. 
6, 1846. 

Mary Juliana', born April 12, 1794; died May, 1810. 

Elizabeth Scott', born April ig, 1796; died in Waltham, 
Mass., Sept. 30, 1887. 

John Williams', born Jan, 28, 1798; died In Mansfield, 
July 6, 1869. 

Emily', born Mar. 29, 1800; died in Mansfield, unmarried, 
Sept. 10, 1 86 1. 

Susanna', born April, 1802; died six hours afterwards. 

Delia', born June 4, 1804; died in Mansfield, unmarried, 
Dec. II, 1869. 

Richard Henry', born Aug. 2, 1808; died in Boston, Aug. 

4, 1893- 

Thomas Gardner', born April i, 18 10; died in Charles- 
town, Mass., Feb. 25, 1872. 

Mary Juliana, 2d', born Feb. 15, 1813; died the same 
month. 

Mary Jane', born Dec. 23, 18 14; died in Waltham, Nov. 
30, 1884. 

Christian'', eldest child of John and Mary (Williams) 
Salter, was a daughter after her mother's heart, devoted 
to the younger children, looking after the interests of the 



70 Descendants of Ezekiel JFilliams. 

household and sharing its duties with her mother. She was 
always occupied and happiest in her varied occupations. 
Like all her sisters she had a most amiable disposition and 
her life showed the fruit of a refined education and the 
discipline of a rcliirious character. 

Harriet Maria^ second daughter of John and Mary 
(Williams) Salter, was married as second wife to Heman, 
son of Justin and Ruth (White) Ely of Elyria, Ohio, Aug. 
20, 1828. "She was prepared by her naturally amiable 
disposition anci winning manners, by an early and refined 
education, and by the grace of God, to exemplify in the 
prominent station she filled, the graces of a Christian 
character. A sweet and charming modesty adorned her 
whole deportment and shed a beautiful lustre over all her 
actions. She was attentive and hospitable to strangers, 
benevolent to the poor, respectful and courteous to all; 
and beloved by all who knew her. Her piety was a matter 
of principle drawn from the Bible, and carried out into all 
the various relations of life; hence its consistency, beauty, 
and utility. A calm enlightened, dignified submission to the 
Divine Will was her uniform state of mind in health and in 
sickness." (Extract from a communication to a local paper 
after her death.) At home, in her young days, Harriet was 
noted for her high spirits, her active energ\', her bright mind 
and her unselfishness. In Heman Ely she had an excellent 
husband and kind friend. He was born (in West Spring- 
fickl, Mass., I think), April 24, 1775. He was associated 
in business in New York with his brother Theodore. He 
spent some years in France. On his return he went to Ohio, 
and was the founder of Elyria, Lorain Co. in 18 17. He 
was Judge of the County Court. He died Feb. 2, 1852. 
The only child of Harriet (Salter) and Heman Ely was: 

Charles Arthur", bom ]\Liy 2, 1829; married, June 14. 
1854. Louise Caroline, dauizhter of Hon. John A, Foote of 
Cleveland, son of Gov. Samuel A. Foote of Connecticut (1834, 
died 1846) and Frances Amelia Foote. She was a rarely gifted 
and accomplished woman, bright, generous, and self-denying. 
" He was a man of broad, benevolent mind and remarkable pulj- 
lic spirit," of " talent, culture, wealth, and better than all of 
spotless character" (Anson Smyth, D.D.). He founded the 



Salter. Alhro. 7 1 

public library of Elyria. and when, after his death, it was burned, 
his widow renewed and enlarged it, delighting to carry on her 
husband's wishes. He died Sept. 30, 1864. She survived him 
until Aug. 15, 1 88 1. They had issue: 

William Arthur^ born Aug. 31, i860; married, Oct. 
4, 1882, Kate J. Fisher, daughter of John R. and Mary E. 
(HenrjO Fisher of Columbus, Ohio, born at Columbus, 
Nov. 12, 1858; died Jan. 18, 1885. One child: 
Arthur'", born June 20, 1883. 

Mary Juliana^ third daughter of John and Mary 
(Williams) Salter, as a young girl must have been possessed 
of remarkable traits and great personal beauty. Her funeral 
sermon, preached. May 19, 18 10, by the Rev. Moses G. 
Welch of North Mansfield, speaks of her as possessed of a 
sweet and amiable temper, accompanied by a dutiful and 
engaging deportment. She was the delight of her parents 
and greatly beloved by her friends. Ill for three years 
before her death, she passed her long painful confinement 
with striking patience, and her submission to the will of 
God was very earnest and sweet. 

Elizabeth Scott^ fourth daughter of John and Mary 
(Williams) Salter married Aug. 20, 1825, the Rev. John 
Adams Albro. Of delicate health from her twenty-second 
year, Elizabeth or Eliza, as she was more generally called, 
survived all her sisters, and two of her three brothers, liv- 
ing to the advanced age of ninety-one years. As in the case 
of her sisters, she also was marked by her amiability, her 
refined and lovely character, and the same traits of her 
benevolence. But what especially distinguished her was, 
that in her long life her patience never faltered, her faith 
never grew dim. With the increase of years, her infirmities 
and weaknesses increased and her trust and courage in- 
creased also. Her submission to God's will grew in cheerful 
readiness as her trials grew. One almost loses sight of the 
good intellect, the bright interest in life and its duties, the 
earnest character in the remembrance of her heroic patience, 
which seemed to cast all other traits into the shadow. That 
patience was the crowning glory of a saintly life. 

Her husband, John Adams Albro, was born in Newport, 
R. I., Aug. 13, 1799. With great musical gifts, playing 



72 Descendants of Ezekicl JFiU'uims. 

both flute ami 'cello, he prepared himself at first to teach 
music. " When about eighteen he commenced the study of 
law, in the school then ilourishing at Litchfield, Conn. A 
year later he found a kind and appreciative friend in Gen. 
Salter of Mansfield with whose family he became subse- 
quently allied by marriage. Finishing his law studies in 
Dec., 1 82 I, he commenced practice in iXIansfield with bright 
prospects of success." (P'rom Discourse of the Rev. J. H. 
Means.) After two years at the Bar, feeling called to the 
ministry, he studied at Andover. In 1827, he was ordained 
over his first pastoral charge. In the same year he received 
the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Yale. On the 
15th of April, 1835, he was installed over the Shepard 
Society in Cambridge, Mass. He received the degree of 
D.D. from Bowdoin in 1848 and from Harvard in 1851. 
He resigned his pastorate in Cambridge April 15, 1856. 
" As a critic, few surpassed him. He was a diligent student 
in several tongues. He had great knowledge. He was 
inflexible in his decisions when he had dulv considered the 
matter. Yet how playful and childlike. His attachments 
were uncommonly tenacious, he loved intensely" (Rev. 
Nehemiah Adams, D.D.). His was a logical mind, united 
with a calm and solid judgment, while his Christian graces 
and modest, unassuming ways endeared him to all hearts. 
He died Dec. 16, 1866. Dr. and Mrs. Albro had issue: 

JoHX SALTER^ bom JuHC 13, 1829; in business in Carson 
City, Nevada; unmarried. 

Anne Elizabeth', born April 23, 1839; unmarried; resi- 
dence, Cambridge, Mass. 

John Williams", fifth child and eldest son of John and 
Mary (Williams) Salter, was prepared for college by tuition 
of the Rev. Moses Hallock of Plainfield, Mass. Mr. Hal- 
lock was his father's classmate at college and his life-long 
and intimate friend. John entered Yale in 18 14 and gradu- 
ated in 181 8. He studied law with his uncle, Judge Wil- 
liams of Hartford, and was admitted to the Bar in 1821. 
He practiced for two years in Mansfield, but having studied 
law simply to gratify his father, he abandoned the profes- 
sion and commenced the study of theology in New Haven 
in 1827. He was licensed to preach in 1829; was settled for 



Salter. 73 

short periods in Kingston, Mass., at Milford, N. H., and at 
Douglas, Mass., but the greater part of his ministry was 
passed at Bozrah and Montville, Conn. At the latter place 
he was pastor of the church for eleven years. In 1862 he 
returned to his native town, where he resided till his death. 
He had a very genial disposition which won for him many 
friends. His conversational powers, enlivened by wit and 
bits of humor were remarkable, but as a Christian gentle- 
man, he commanded respect and honor. He married ( i ) 
Sept. 28, 1825, Harriet Byron Lucretia, daughter of 
Thomas and Lucy (Wattles) Stedman, born at Williams- 
town, Mass., Aug. I, 1805. He died Sept. 2, 1838. They 
had issue : 

Mary Catherine', born in Mansfield, Sept. 28, 1826; 
married (i) James D. Lockvvood ; (2) Gilbert M. Belknap. 
No issue. 

John Thomas*, born in Bozrah, January 25, 1833, of whom 
very little is known. 

He married (2) at Colchester, Conn., March i, 1842, 
Elizabeth Turner, daughter of David and Lois (Baker) 
Turner, born Feb. 5, 1799. She died Feb. 24, 1880, with- 
out children. He died in Mansfield, July 6, 1869. 

Susanna^ sixth daughter and seventh child of John and 
Mary (Williams) Salter, " like the dew-drop, sparkled, was 
exhaled and rose to Heaven." She lived on earth only six 
hours. 

Delia^ seventh daughter and eighth child of John and 
Mary (Williams) Salter, was also of a lovely amiable 
disposition and was perhaps the most religious of the. sisters. 
Her influence for good was very widely extended, and her 
charities large, but quiet and unobtrusive, like her life. 

Richard Henry'', ninth child and second son of John 
and Mary (Williams) Salter, graduated at the Yale Medical 
School in 1 83 1 ; married at Andover, Mass., April 29, 1 835, 
Abbie Wheeler, sixth child and second daughter of Rev. 
Dr. Leonard and Abby (Wheeler) Woods, born, Andover, 
July 25, 181 1 ; died, Aug. 23, 1883. She was a very gifted 
and accomplished woman. Dr. Salter settled as a physician 



74 Descendants of Ezekiel Williams. 

first in Norwich, but in the fall of 1835 removed to Boston. 
He received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from 
Kenvon College in 1854. He went out in our late war as 
surgeon with the First Massachusetts regiment in May, 
I 861, and remained with the regiment till Feb., 1863, when 
his health forced him to resign. He was a member of 
Phillips Academy Alumni (class of 1825) of the Mass. 
IVIedical Society, Yale Medical Association, etc. As an 
c\-idence of his marked literary tastes, I mention a transla- 
tion of De Maistre's Generative Principles of Political 
Cunstitntioiis, which he made and to which he added valuable 
notes. This w'as published in 1847. But his preference was 
to lead a quiet, unobtrusive life, [the last years of which 
were spent in Boston with his daughter Edith. He died, 
Aug. 4, 1893.] ^ he children of Dr. Salter and Abbie 
(Wheeler) Woods Salter were : 

Helex Josephixe", born in Andover, Feb. 12, 1836; en- 
tered Convent of Sisters of Mercy, Brooklyn, L. F, Oct., 1870; 
was professed by name Sister Mary Stephen, May, 1873. 

IVFary Williams", born in Boston. June 23, 1839; rnarried 
as second wife, June 28, 1867, Finton, son of Andrew Baskins 
and Matilda (Findsay) Stephens, born near Crawfordsville, 
Georgia, July i, 1823, a younger brother of the Hon. Alexander 
H. Stephens and himself a famous lawyer and judge; died Jul\ 
14, 1872. They had issue: 

Feoxora Amy", born AFiy 8, 1868. j 

Alexaxder", born Aug. 28, 1869. \ 

Rose Marv', born Oct. 22, 1871. 
Feoxora', born in Boston, ^F'^r. 10, 1844; died Nov. 21, 
1864. 

Richard Hexry", born in Boston, Feb. 19, 1847; married 
(i) at San Francisco, Sept., 1870, Fmma Gertrude Coon, 
born. New Orleans; died in Boston, Feb. 6, 1875. They had 
issue : 

Richard Hexry", born in San Francisco, Dec. 21, 1871. 

AFary Joseph", born in San Francisco, Sept. 23, 1873. 

He married (2) at Sparta, Georgia, April 18, 1876, Rebecca 

Christine, eldest child of Finton and Fmcline (Thomas) 

Stephens, born in Sparta, Nov. 22, 1852; died at the same place, 

Sept. 17, 1880. They had issue: 1 

Johx AFvry", born in Sparta, June 23, 1877. 

Agxes Fmhlixe", born in Sparta, Aug. 14, 1879; died 

in Fower California, Mexico, July 24, 1889. 



! 



» 



Salter. 75 

He married (3) at Boston, Mass., July 27, 1885, Katharine, 
daughter of William Gideon and Catharine Stephens, born New 
Orleans, June 20, 1853. They had issue: 

Paul Percival^, born, Haverford Hill, Mass., Feb. 15, 
1887; died Ensenada, Lower California, Mar. 5, 1888. 
A DAUGHTER^ born in San Diego, Cal., Sept. 23, 1889. 
Abigail Edith", born in Peoria, 111., Nov. 18 or 19, 
1892. 
Emily Otis', born in Boston, April 11, 1851 ; died in Boston, 
Jan. 3, 1853. 

Edith Agnes^ born in Boston, June i, 1854; [removed to 
England after the death of her father, and was for some years 
secretary to the poet, Aubrey de Vere ; since his death she has re- 
sided in Shepard's Bush, London ; a woman of remarkable 
sweetness of disposition, strong devotion to her chosen (Roman 
Catholic) faith, and exceptional intellectual attainments. 
Though totally deaf from childhood, she learned to converse 
by reading the lips and has never been seriously debarred from 
the society of her friends,] 

Thomas Gardner^ tenth child and third son of John 
and Mary (Williams) Salter, married Dec. 10, _ 1844, 
Mary, eldest daughter and third child of the Hon. Timothy 
Gardiner and Betsey (Parker) Coffin of New Bedford; 
born, April 7, 1821. She died at New London, March 29, 
1884. He died at Charlestown, Mass., Feb. 25, 1872. 

Thomas G. Salter having completed his studies at El- 
lington, Conn., entered Yale College in Oct., 1828, and thus 
was a member of the famous class of 1832. W^hen the class 
disruption caused by the " Conic Sections Rebellion " oc- 
curred in 1830, he entered Rutgers College, N. J., where 
after a thorough examination, he was admitted to the Junior 
class and graduated in 1832. Although trained in strict 
Scotch Presbyterianism, his views underwent a great change 
and in 1834 he entered the General Theological Seminary 
of the Episcopal Church in N. Y., where he graduated in 
1837. He was ordained deacon at Christ Church, Hartford, 
Dec. 16, 1838, by Bishop Brownell. He took charge of 
Grace Church, Utica, N. Y., for a few months, and then 
supplied the pulpit of the church at Lansdale, R. I. There 
he received priests orders from Bishop Griswold of the 
eastern New York diocese. From March, 1841, to Nov., 
1842, he was in charge of St. Stephen's Church, East Had- 



76 Descendiints of Ezekiel Williams. 

» 

dam, Conn.; from June, 1844, to March, 1848, of a church 
in Nantucket. In 1847, he was settled over St. Thomas' 
Church, Dover, N. H., and continued in charge of this 
parish till July, 1861. Receiving the appointment of 
chaplain in the United States Navy, he resigned the rector- 
ship of St. Thomas' and until his death remained in the 
navy. 

As a boy, he was high spirited, generous, and religious. 
He was sympathetic and quickly won the affection of his 
parishioners and friends. In the navy he was highly 
esteemed. He was always a true pastor. His sermons were 
brilliant and his manner and spirit in preaching made a good 
impression, hence his instructions appealed more to his 
promiscuous congregations, than if he had been of deeper 
mind. He was not great but good and true, and a Christian 
gentleman. Chaplain Salter was on board the Minnesota 
in 1862 when she was nearly destroyed by the Merrimac, 
while lying off Hampton Roads during the late war between 
the States. The shock was severe and it is thought unsettled 
his system. The children of Thomas and Mary (Gardner) 
Salter were : 

Mary Williams', born in New Bedford, Feb. 3, 1846; 
married as second wife, Feb. 14. 1885, Charles Bernon, son of 
Philip and Phcrbe (Aborn) Allen, born Dec. 23, 1831. No 
children : 

Jane Colby Coffin', born, New Bedford, Oct. i, 1848; 
married, Nov. 23, 1875, Abiel Ward, son of Job Pierce and 
Fatlma (Baker) Nelson, born in Lakeville, Mass., Aup;. 24, 
1835, graduated from Brown Universitv and from Harvard 
Medical School (1861). 

Timothy Garuixer Coffin', born Dover, N. H., Nov. 11, 
1850; graduated from the Naval Academy, Annapolis; an 
oflicer in the United States Navy. 

Thomas Gardiner', born Dover, N. H., Aug. 9, 1854; re- 
ceived the usual education; became a Roman Catholic in 1878, 
and after a course in college entered the Society of Jesus to study 
for the priesthood; after three years of study he left in 1884 
and spent the following years in travel. 

Gf.orge Waldron\ born, Dover, N. H., Nov. 11, 1856; 
died Jan. 25, 1861. 

Abbie Waldron", born, Dover, N. H., Mar. 19, 1861; 
died Jan. 25, 1861. 



Salter. 77 

Mary Juliana^ eleventh child and eighth daughter of 
John and Mary (Williams) Salter, born Feb. 15, 18 13, 
lived but a few hours. 

Mary Jane\ twelfth child and ninth daughter of John 
and Mary (Williams) Salter was born Dec. 23, 18 14; mar- 
ried as second wife, April 26, 1865, Edward Gilbert of 
Mansfield, who died Nov. 30, 1869. She died at Waltham, 
Mass., Nov. 30, 1884. 



yS Descendants of Ezekiel JVilUams. 



ESTHER^ 

Born April 14, 1771. Died June 24, 1820. 



Fifth dau<rhtcr ;ind seventh child of Ezekiel and 
Prudence (Stoddard) Williams, was for many years an 
invalid, a great sufterer from disease of an unusual nature, 
little understood in that day and perhaps it would be as 
obscure in this. It made her nerves extremely sensitive, so 
that various sounds which a person in health would not 
notice affected her most painfully. It deprived her of the 
power of speech, and while her mind was as bright and 
active as ever, rendered her incapable of any exertion, except 
occasionally with pen or pencil. In letter-writing indeed, 
she excelled and long after her death her letters were 
regarded as precious treasures. She was greatly beloved 
by every member of her family and by a large circle of 
friends, and in all that the writer heard in her youth of 
Esther's long illness, nothing but sympathy and admiration 
was expressed for her. Not the first intimation was given 
that her friends ever lost patience with her or thought that 
it could have been possible for her, by any exercise of self- 
control or effort of any kind, to free herself, in any degree, 
from those symptoms which are sometimes attributed to a 
disordered imagination or an inert will. There is no one 
now living who remembers anything of her except the beauty 
of her person and the exquisite taste in which, when in health 
she was always dressed. But there are those who heard, in 
their childhood and youth, of intellectual accomplishments 
and loveliness of character, which made her the delight of 
her friends far more than the eternal beauty which they did 
not undervalue. Among the papers of one of her brothers 
was found the following which appears to be a copy of an 
obituan' notice written for the press. It is not known who 
was the author, but probably it was a Wethersfield lady, 
who had long been intimately acquainted with her, and this 
delineation of her character is so like that which has come 



Esther Williams. 79 

to us from those more closely associated with her, that there 
can be no doubt of its correctness: 

" Died at Wethersfield, 24th June last, Miss Esther 
Williams, daughter of the late Ezekiel Williams, Esq., in 
the 49th year of her age. From her earliest years, she dis- 
covered such discernment of intellect, correctness of taste 
and sweetness of temper as rendered her an object of peculiar 
regard with her friends and justly endeared her to her 
numerous acquaintances. The native kindness of her disposi- 
tion, being sanctified by divine grace, excited in her breast 
that real benevolence, which arises from Christian principle. 
She always delighted in doing good and making those 
around her happy. At the age of 35 she was seized with an 
indisposition by which she has been secluded for fourteen 
years from all social intercourse except with her most 
intimate friends. Although days of affliction and nights of 
sorrow have been appointed unto her, it has been only that 
her sufferings might exhibit her virtues in the most amiable 
and endearing light. Her cheerful resignation to the will 
of Heaven under the greatest bodily distress and her uni- 
form patience and serenity of soul during her long pro- 
tracted confinement evinced a piety and a faith in God which 
no adversity could shake. But at a time when her disease 
appeared to be forming a favorable crisis and the hopes of 
friends began to brighten at the prospect of her returning 
health, a new and unexpected attack blasted every rising 
expectation and put a speedy period to her mortal existence. 
The same cheerful serenity that marked her countenance 
in health and in sickness, did not forsake her in the dying 
hour but the power of utterance having long been denied 
her, she could only testify by a speaking smile the triumphs 
of her faith and her ravishing prospects of future glory." 



8o Descendiuits of Ezckicl ffUiiam. 



SOLOMON STODDARD'\ 

Born Oct, lo, 1773. Died Feb. 10, 184O. 



Third son and eighth child of Ezeklel and Prudence 
(Stoddard) Williams, was the only one of their sons who 
did not receive a college education. His health was at no 
time very good, and I am not aware that he was ev'er engaged 
in business of any kind, — certainly he was not after I was 
old enough to know anything about his occupations. He 
was a somewhat eccentric character, inheriting the family 
weaknesses to a greater degree than any of his brothers 
and sisters and .was not so highly endowed intellectually as 
thev were, or cared, as his brothers did, for cultivating the 
faculties which he possessed. Still, he w^as not without a 
good share of mother wit, and this, with his quaint ways, 
made him often very amusing, while his irritability and 
fastidiousness in minor matters made him at times very an- 
noying. He dressed with great care in the finest broad- 
cloth made up in the latest fashion, and all that he wore or 
carried about his person was the nicest of its kind. He had 
none of the equanimity which was such a beautiful feature 
of his mother's character and which several of her children 
inherited, but he had no vices and his failings were more 
the result of infinnity than of a want of the Christian 
principle by which he professed to be governed. His life 
was mostly passed in his native town. After the home of 
his youth was broken up, during all the years that I re- 
member him, with the exception of occasional visits at the 
homes of his brothers and sisters, his time was divided be- 
tween the families of one nephew in Salem and another in 
Amherst and a favorite boarding place in Wethersfield. He 
died unmarried at the house of his brother, Hon. Thomas 
Scott Williams, in Hartford, in the 67th year of his age. 



Christian Williams. 8 1 



CHRISTIAN. 

Born Sept. 22, 1775. Died Jan. 30, 1803. 



Sixth daughter and ninth child of Ezekiel and Prudence 
(Stoddard) Williams, is the one of their children of whom 
I know the least. She was born Sept. 22, 1775, and died 
after a mortal life of twenty-seven years and four months, 
Jan. 30, 1803, unmarried. She was connected with the 
Christian Church by her baptism in infancy, and by her 
voluntary and public union with it, as its records show, 
about six years before her death. This event occurred so 
many years before I was born as to account sufficiently for 
my knowing no more of her. 



82 Descendants of Ezekiel fVilliams. 



THOMAS SCOTT«. 

Born June 2b, 1777. Died Dec. 22, 1861. 



Fourth son and tenth child of Ezekiel and Prudence 
(Stoddard) Williams was named, not, as many have sup- 
posed, for the distinguished English commentator, but for 
the father of the wife of Rector Williams (a beloved and 
highly esteemed aunt of the father ol Ihomas), a dissenting 
minister of Norwich, England. 

An excellent account of his career to 1847 '^ given In 
the History of the WiWuims Family, pp. 174-175. "He 
was born at Wethersrteld, Conn., June 26, 1777; educated 
at Yale College, graduated in 1794, attended Judge Reeves' 
Eectures at Litchfield from March 4, 1797, until some time 
in the summer of 1798, then read law with Zephaniah 
Swift, Esq., of Windham County; afterwards chief justice, 
from August, 1798, to February, 1799, when he was admit- 
ted to the bar in Windham County; removed to Hartford 
in December, 1803. In 1809 he was appointed attorney 
of the Board of Managers of the School Fund, and held the 
situation about a year, when the board itself was superseded 
by the appointment of a commissioner. He represented the 
town of Hartford in the General Assembly, October, 18 13, 
October, 18 15 (when he was appointed clerk in the Flouse 
of Representatives), October, 18 16, and again clerk in 
1 8 19, 1825, 1827, and 1829. He represented the State in 
the Fifteenth Congress of the United States, viz., from 
March 4, 1817, to March 4, 1819. In May, 1829, he was 
appointed associate judge of the Supreme Court of Errors, 
from and after the 30th of December, 1834. He was 
mayor ot the city of Hartford from March, 1831, until 
April, 1835. In August, 1834, he received from the cor- 
poration of Vale College, the honorary degree of LL.D." 
Soon alter he was appointed chief justice of the Supreme 
court of Connecticut, in which office he continued until 
he attained the age at which. acC(M\ling to the law of the 
State, he was no longer eligible. 






Thomas Scott Williams. 83 

A satisfactory delineation of his life and character 
would require much more space than can be spared here. 
Brief sketches, to which I could add nothing of interest, 
were published after his death, and are now easily acces- 
sible. More than one copy of each is in my possession, and 
I hope those who come after me will value and preserve 
them. They may be assured that they do not in the least 
overestimate the character and services of a man, who was 
as highly esteemed in his native State, and perhaps in New 
England, as any one who was contemporary with him. No- 
where was he held in higher honor than in his own house 
and his near neighborhood. One who lived but a few 
doors from him, a citizen of wealth and high repute, who 
met him for many years almost daily in their walks to and 
from business told me that he had never seen a man to whom 
he felt so much like taking off his hat as he did to Judge 
Williams whenever he approached him. 

He married, first, J^^nuary 7, 18 12, Delia, youngest 
daughter of Hon. Chief Justice Ellsworth of the United 
States Supreme Court, born January 23, 1789. She was a 
sister of the wife of his brother Ezekiel. Of her I say 
unhesitatingly, she was the most conscientious, self-sacri- 
ficing, thoroughly excellent woman I ever knew. The sketch 
of her character which accompanies that of her husband is 
as true to life as his. She died, deeply mourned, not only 
by her relatives and intimate friends, but by all classes of the 
community, on the 25th of June, 1840. 

He married, second, November i, 1842, Martha M. 
Colt, Daughter of the late Elisha Coit of New York City. 
His last days were made happy by her devoted affection and 
kind attentions. She survived him a little more than five 
years, and died in Boston, April 22, 1867. Neither of these 
wives was the mother of children. 



84 Descendauis of Ezekiel fniliams. 



SAMUEL PORTER^ 

Horn Feb. 22, 1770. Difd Dec. 23, 1826. 



V'lfth son and eleventh and younj^est child of Ezekiel 
and Prudence (Stoddard) Williams \\ as named, it is sup- 
posed, for his father's maternal j2;randfather, an eminent 
citizen of western Massachusetts. He entered Yale College 
at the age of thirteen and graduatetl at seventeen, as his 
brother Phomas had done before him. It was a source of 
great regret to him afterward that such ad\antages could 
not have been reserved for him until he was better fitted to 
appreciate them. He felt that " precious advantages " had 
been lost by this mistake. " Time, expectation, money, 
all squandered, but," he adds nobly, " I resolve to redeem 
that which is lost." This was probably written after he had 
been for a time engaged in mercantile pursuits, for after 
lea\ing college he had no disposition to enter at once upon 
another course of study. 

In 1803 he became for the first time a communicant of 
the church and began to carry out his high resolve. Under 
the direction of Dr. Dwight he commenced the study of 
thcologv, continuing it with his brother-in-law, Rew Dr. 
Howard of Springfield, Mass. Soon after he was licensed 
he was invited to become the colleague of Dr. Howard, 
the failure of whose voice made such an assistant necessary 
to him. At nearly the same time he received calls from 
Deerficld and Mansfield, and decided to accept the latter, 
although, from a worldlv point of \iew, it seemed the least 
desirable. At that place he was ordained pastor January i, 
1807, and remained until September, 18 17, having preached 
to his people nine 'hundred sermons. Eea\ing ^Iansfield, 
he preached two years in Northampton, Mass., as the 
colleague of his cousin. Rev. Solomon Williams, in charge 
of a church which, almost from its formation has been min- 
istered to by Solomon Stodiiard or one of his descendants. 
Afterward he received a unanimous invitation to become 
pastor of the First Presbyterian church in Newbui^port, 



Samuel Porter Williams. 85 

Mass., and was installed February 8, 1821. He was a 
very eloquent and impressive preacher, and a strong, true 
man. 

Rev. Dr. Withington. his near neighbor and intimate 
friend, said of him: "He was the most transparent man 
I ever knew [and] was universally respected for his deci- 
sion, talents, and piety. His preaching lost immensely by the 
printer's ink; his voice, so melodious, was a constant stimu- 
lant, and his emphasis a perpetual comment." His personal 
appearance, no doubt, contributed something to the power- 
ful impression which his preaching produced. Dr. Withing- 
ton said further: " His action was graceful; he was tall in 
person, quick and firm in his step, mianly in his motions, 
giving you the air of a military man rather than a preacher 
of the Gospel. He was a living exemplification of the 
Saviour's direction, ' When ve fast be not as the hypocrites, 
of a sad countenance,' etc. He was cheerful without levity, 
and careless of shadowy solemnities, sought to secure the 
object most solemn of all." 

A volume of his sermons was published after his death, 
and to the biographical sketch therein given, as also to the 
article in Sprague's A}inah, IV, p. 370, those who would 
know more of him mav be referred. He died in the prime 
of life, wanting but two months of 48 years of age. 

He married, first, November 7, 1801, Mary Hanford 
Webb, a very beautiful and accomplished Avoman. She 
died September 13, 18 15, and was buried in Mansfield. 
Their children were : 

John Howarx)', born in Hartford, June 6, 1803; died in 
New York, April 3, 1890. 

Richard Salter', born in Mansfield, Mar. i, 1805; died 
Sept. 27. 1854. 

Samuel Porter', born in Mansfield, Aug. 5, 1807; died 

Aug. 3, 1877- 

Esther Elmina', born in Mansfield, Nov. 2, 1809; died 
Sept. 27, 1854. 

Stoddard Worthington', born in Mansfield, Mar. 20, 
1812; died Jan. 23, 1883. 

Walter', born in Mansfield, June 8. 18 14; died Sept. 29, 
1814. 

Francke', born in Mansfield, Aug. 31, 1815; died in Aiken, 
S. C, May 23, 1871. 



86 Dcsccudanls of Kzckicl JFUliams. 

John Howard", eldest son of Samuel Porter and Mary 
I laiiford (Webb) \\'illiams, settled in New York soon after 
attaininu; his majority, and there he resided for the remainder 
of his life. He never cnira^j^eil in business on his own account, 
but hcKl many important clerkships, being for eight years 
in the Custom House. From these employments he retired 
early, being unmarried and ha\ing an income sufficient for 
his support. He found congenial occupation in society and 
politics, in reading and writing, and in the services of his 
church. Into ^^•hich he ah\aNS entered with xtvy great inter- 
est. His illness was long, but attended with every alleviation 
which affection and money could secure. A few weeks more 
of life would have brought him to the age of 87 years. 

Rkmiard SALTI•:R^ the second son of Samuel Porter and 
Mary Han ford (Webb) Williams, was for three years a 
member of Yale College, class of 1 826. He did not graduate 
but received the degree of A.M. in 1844 from the same 
institution. He studied law, and commenced practice in 
Nashville, Tenn., but soon remov^ed to Natchez, Mississippi, 
and became a cotton planter. He married, January 29, 
1829, (Mrs.) Agnes Wilson Hoggatt, daughter of Nathan- 
iel Hoggatt, Esq., of Natchez. Tn the spring: or summer of 
1854, Mr. and Mrs. Williams, with his sister Elmina and 
her son Augustus, went abroad in search of health and 
pleasure. On the return passage, the steamer Arctic, in 
which they sailed, collided with a French steamer in a dense 
fog, off the banks of Newfoundland, about noon of Septem- 
ber 27, and in less than five hours it sank with all on board. 
No tidings of Mr. Williams or of those who accompanied 
hini c\cr reached their relatives and friends at home. Their 
chiKlren, all of whom died in infancy or early childhood, 
were : 

CuARLOTTi-', horn Sept. 25, 1830. 
Sarah Hoggatt\ born July 30, 1832. 
Elizabeth Elmixa", born Feb. 26, 1835. 

SAMri-.i. Portkr", the third son of Rev. Samuel Porter 
and Mary Hanford (Webb) Williams, was born at Mans- 
field, and settled in 1828 in New York City, where he en- 
gaged in mercantile business. He married ( i ) October 2, 



Williams. Brower. 87 

1839, Catherine Antoinette Dey, daughter of Anthony Dey, 
Esq., and granddaughter of the venerated Archibald Laidlie, 
D.D., pastor of the North Dutch church in New York 
City, born November i, 18 10, died April 6, 1848. They 
had issue : 

Catharine Laidlie*, born Aug. 26, 1840; died, unmarried, 
April 8, 1865. 

Samuel Porter, Jr.", born Sept. 20, 1842; married Sept. 15, 
1870 (Mrs.) Almena (Bradley) Axtell of Olean, N. Y. He 
died Mar. 21, 1875. Mrs. Williams now resides in New York. 
They had children: 

Almena Butman", born Nov. i, 1871 ; unmarried; now 
residing with her mother. 

Catharine Laidlie", born Jan. 20, 1873; died Jan. 23, 

1873. 
Samuel Porter, ^d", born Feb. g, 1874; <lied July 22, 

1875. 

WiNTHROP Dwight', born Feb. 6, 1844; died July 17, 
1865. 

Archibald Laidlie^ born Mar. 31, 1848; died Feb. 2, 
1873, unmarried. 

Each of these children, except Winthrop, died of con- 
sumption after a lingering illness. Samuel P. Williams 
married (2) Feb. 17, 1S53 (Mrs.) Jane (VanAnken) Col- 
well of New York City, who died April 10, 1854; he died 
Aug. 3, 1877. They had one daughter: 

Mary Agnes', born Jan. 19, 1854; married, April 19, 1877, 
Ogden Brower. son of John Lefoy and Elizabeth (Ogden) 
Brower, born. New York City, July 21, 1855; member of the 
Gibbes-Brower Co., etc. They have children: 

Murray Van Gelder", born August 10, 1878. 
Alice\ born Oct. i, 1880. 

Ogden, Jr.", born Mar. 31, 1882; married, Jan. 6, 1906, 
Eleanore Stewart Montell. One child : 

Elizabeth Ogden"', born Aug. 18, 1906. 
Lesley Williams'", born July 13, 1886. 

Esther Elmina", the fourth child and only daughter 
of Rev. Samuel Porter and Mary Hanford (Webb) Wil- 
liams, married, June 11, 1834, George Snowden Howland 
of Brooklyn, New York. He had many business interests. 
She was lovely in person and amiable in character; was with 



88 Descendants of Ezekiel fVilliams. 

her brother Richard and his wife and her own son Augustus, 
on the steamer Arctic, and with them sank to an ocean grave, 
September 27th, 1854. They had children: 

Julia Chester, born May 7, 1835; died Sept. 6, 1849. 

Augustus Graham", born Dec., 1840; lost at sea, Sept. 
27, 1854. 

Joseph Sxowdon", born Feb., 1848; died April, 1850. 

John Sxowdon', born Jan. 23. 1851; died Sept. 19, 1885, 
an excellent and interesting young man, long an invalid, faith- 
fully and tenderly cared for by his step-mother, the widow of 
his father, 

Stoddard Wortiiington", fourth son and fifth child 
of Samuel Porter and Mary Han ford (Webb) Williams, 
graduated at Amherst College, 1S35. He was a teacher for 
a few years; afterward an in\alid until his death, which 
occurred at the Hospital of the Insane, Northampton, Mass., 
January 23, 1883. He was never married. He was full of 
life and fun in his youth, and had many noble traits which 
I well remember. 

Walter", fifth son and sixth child of Rev. Samuel Porter 
and Mary Hanford (Webb) Williams, died in early in- 
fancy. 

Fraxc'Ki:", sixth son and seventh child of Rev. Samuel 
Porter and Mary Hanford (Webb) Williams, was named 
for the distinguished divine and philanthropist, August Her- 
mann Francke. His father had been reading the life of 
this eminent man and so admired his character and work 
that he determined to bestow his name upon his infant son. 
When he took him in his arms for baptism, he could only 
recall the surname, and so that alone was given to the child. 
'Ihc father was unwilling afterward to prefix what he had 
forgotten. The later boyhood and youth of Francke was 
passed in the family of his uncle, Judge WilHams, and until 
he married that was considered his home. He entered the 
New IFnen Medical School and graduated from it in 1840. 
Fie first settled as a physician in the city of New York, but 
in NLay, 1844 removed to Newburyport, Massachusetts, and 
on December 17th of the same year married Caroline Hall 
Bartlett, born September 7, 18 18, daughter of William 
Bartlett, Fsq., of that place. He died in Aiken, South 



I 



i 



Williams. Pinney. 89 

Carolina, May 23, 1871, where he had gone for the im- 
provement of his health, which had long been feeble. She 
died February 23, 1904. They had children: 

Augustus Herman*, born Oct. 30, 1845; married, April 
10, 1877, Aravilla Nelson, now deceased. They had issue: 

Ernest Nelson", born Mar. 18, 1878; married Mary 
Root, Feb, 22, 1901. 

Howard Bartlett'', born Mar. 30, 1881; married, 
Sept. 5, I gob, Carrie Maud Burnop, daughter of George 
Willard and Florence Adele (Baxter) Burnop. 

Adelaide Hemingway", born April 7, 1883; died 
April 29, 1887. 

Harry Tucker", born April 9, 1885; died May 3, 

1887. 

Ralph Scott", born Aug. 25, 1888. 
Elizabeth Bartlett", born Nov. 19, 1890. 
Francke SHERMAN^ born April 20, 1847; graduate of Yale 
College, 1869, and of the Columbia Law School, 1872. He 
practiced law in New York City a few years until his health 
failed and he removed to Washington, D. C. To aid in pre- 
paring himself for practice as a patent lawyer he took a clerk- 
ship in the Patent Office, in which he continued, receiving sev- 
eral promotions until his death, which occurred Sept. 22, 1882, 
after a short and at no time apparently dangerous illness. He 
married the widow of his cousin, Samuel P. Williams. They 
had no children. 

Agnes Elmina^ born Sept. 12, 1849; died Dec. 16, 1850. 
Ernest Dwight^ born Nov. 9, 1851; married, June 6, 
1 88 1. Gertrude Isabella Cole; died Nov., 1899. No children. 
Adelaide Elmina^ born Mar. 20, 1854; married, Dec. 31, 
1878, Thomas Henry Dewey, a lawyer in New York City, 
son of the late Col. David S. Dewey of Hartford. They reside 
in Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Carrie Gertrude^ born Jan. 8, 1857; married, Dec. 13, 
1 88 1, Dwight C. Pinney. a merchant in New York City. They 
reside in Brooklyn. They have children: 

Grace DeWitt", born Oct. 23, 1882; married April 
26, 1905, Henry Langdon Butler, son of Henry Langdon 
and Cornelia White Butler; in office furniture business in 
New York City. One child : 

Beatrice'", born Mar. 9, 1906. 
DeWitt", born April 15, 1886; died in June of the 
same year. 

Harold', born Dec. 9, 1887; died Dec. 24, 1899. 



Benjamin Harrison", born in San Francisco, Dec. 3, 1855; 
married, April 29, 1885, Adelia Emma Decker. Their children 
are: 

LuELLA*, born Sept. 21, 1886. 
Amy', born Oct. 31, 1887. 






90 Descendants of Ezekiel IFiUiams. 

Grace Vernon", born July 24, 1861; died May 22, 1879, 
of brain fever, after a short illness of ten days. 

Rev. Samuel P. Williams married, second, Nov. 21, 
18 14, Sarah Pierrepont Tyler, a great granddaughter of 
Jonathan Edwards, born April 22, or 25, 1791, died Nov. 
7, 1857. They had issue: 

Septimius Tyler', born in Brooklyn, Conn., Dec. 22, 181 8; 
died Dec. 2, 1901. 

Edwards', born in Northampton, Mass., Mar. 2, 1820. 

Josiah Dwight', born in Newburyport, April 2, 182 1; died 
Sept. 24, 1 82 1. 

William', born in Newburj-port, Nov. 17, 1822; died in 
Stratford, Conn., Jan. 5, 1870. 

Sarah', born June 2, 1824; died in 1826. 

Mary Elizabeth', born in Newburyport, Feb. 27, 1826. 

Septimius Tyler'', eldest son of Rev. Samuel Porter and 
Sarah Pierrepont (Tyler) Williams was happily and use- 
fully engaged for many years in mission work in New \ork 
City. He died Dec. 2, 1901. I 

Edwards^ second son of Rev. Samuel Porter and Sarah 
Pierrepont (l\ler) Williams, became a merchant in New 
York Citv. but at the beginning of the Mexican War went ^ 
out to California as a lieutenant in the ist Regiment, N. Y. \ 
Volunteers under Col. J. D. Stevenson. He subsequently 
established, in conjunction with Henry Meiggs, a large saw- ,| 
mill at Mendocino and was for many years prominent in 
San Francisco, in connection with the lumber interests of the 
Pacific Coast. The family has resided for many years at 
Oakland. ^ 

Mr. Williams married, first, Susan Amelia Harrower, 
June 7, 1853, the voungest daughter of Benjamin Harrower 
of Lawrenceville, Penn., born May 22, 1833, died in Alviso, 
Cal., May 30, 1856. They had one child: 



I 



Williams. 91 

Mr. Williams married, second, in Troy, New York, 
March i, 1859, Mary Floyd Cushman, youngest daughter 
of the late Judge John Paine Cushman of Troy, and grand- 
daughter, on her mother's side, of Col. Benjamin Tallmadge 
of Litchfield, Conn., at one time a member of the military 
family of Gen. Washington. They had issue: 

Maria Tallmadge^ born in Troy, Jan. 26, i860; married, 
Sept. 26, 1900, in Oakland, Cal., Rev. Reed Brown Cherington, 
of Kenwood, Sonoma Co., Cal. 

Sarah Pierrepont Tyler^ born in Troy, Dec. 12, 1862; 
died in New York City, Dec. 22, 1863. 

Mary Floyd^ born in Troy, Mar. 31, 1866. 

JosiAH DwiGHT', third son of Rev. Samuel Porter and 
Sarah Pierrepont (Tyler) Williams, died in infancy. 

William^ fourth son of Rev. Samuel Porter and Sarah 
Pierrepont (Tyler) Williams, married, Dec. 8, 185 1, Julia 
Woodbridge Lanman, daughter of the Hon. Charles Lanman 
of Norwich, Conn. They had issue : 

Thomas Scott", born in New York City, Dec. i, 1852; 
married, June 9, 1883, Margaret Neville of St. Louis; is local 
freight agent of the Wabash Railroad in East St. Louis. They 
have children : 

Nellie May", born April 3, 1884; died Nov. 8th of the 
same year. 

JuLIA^ born July 30, 1886. 
Charles Lanman^ born in Valparaiso, Chili, Aug. 22, 
1856; died there April i, 1857. 

William Pierrepont^ born in Valparaiso, April 11, 1858; 
graduated Yale College, 1877; lawyer in New York City. 

Sarah\ fifth child and first daughter of Rev. Samuel 
Porter and Sarah Pierrepont (Tyler) Williams, died in 
early childhood. 

Mary ELIZABETH^ sixth child and second daughter of 
Rev. Samuel Porter and Sarah Pierrepont (Tyler) Wil- 
liams, married Richard Cunningham Edwards, who died at 
Danielson, Conn., Feb. 18, 1903. He was a brother of Mrs. 
Prof. Park of Andover and is said to have been the last 
living great-grandson of Jonathan Edwards. 



Tht Can, Lt<iwd 6f Brainard Ctmfanr Prim 



--is'" 



A^ 



' <S' 



<>, 



^y 



,^^ '^>.. 



r 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



021 548 395 2 



